The Heirs of Dreams
by CH-Larkin
Summary: The summer after Harry's sixth year (Spider's Blood). Harry is at the Weasley's when Ginny and Zora disappear...he must make a choice between them, but who will he choose?
1. Chapter 1

Harry smiled serenely to himself as he continued to study his textbook, a feeling of satisfaction and a classic "I told you so," written on his face. Zora was finally awake, just as Harry had predicted she would be soon.  
  
"Well...is she...all right?" Hermione persisted impatiently.  
  
"She's tired believe it or not," Harry replied casually from over the rim of his Transfiguration book.  
  
"Tired? She slept for three months!" Ron laughed.  
  
"That's what she said," Harry smiled.  
  
"Well...does she remember anything? Does she remember us helping her?" Hermione asked, ignoring Harry's efforts to hide behind his book.  
  
"Well...she didn't say yes, but she didn't say no. She was more along the lines of yelling at Snape and Dumbledore most of the conversation."  
  
"But why? I thought she and Snape were like...friends...if it were possible to be friends with him."  
  
"They knew the attack was coming, they just didn't tell her," Harry replied as he lowered his book, realizing he was not going to get very much studying done.  
  
"I'd be a bit peeved too if someone knew I was going to be kidnapped and didn't tell me," Ron replied.  
  
"Is it true, Harry?" Ginny asked as she came close to Harry's side. Her red hair was tied away from her face, making her deep brown eyes even more noticeable without the frame of red surrounding her. Harry recalled what Draco had told him at Zora's bed: "Has she told you when the tiny Weasley's going to die?...Trust me...she knows all the answers."  
  
"Is what true?" Harry asked absently as he silently realized that one day those big brown eyes would close and never open again. Zora knew when the day would come.  
  
"Is Zora awake? Is she all right?" Ginny asked looking concerned, a hint of Mrs. Weasley peering from behind her eyes.  
  
"Yeah," Harry replied as he regained himself and managed to smile. "She's up and telling everyone off as usual."  
  
"I'm so glad to hear that," Ginny smiled with a sigh of relief. "I was starting to worry for her."  
  
"You're not the only one," Harry smiled and nodded at Ginny.  
  
"So, are you planning on visiting this summer?" Ginny asked after a pause, obviously realizing the hint of awkward silence stretching suddenly over them.  
  
"Umm...I really didn't think much about it," Harry replied with a little thought.  
  
Most of the past few months had been spent dwelling on haunting dreams or worrying about Zora, not to mention struggling to keep up with schoolwork. Harry really didn't have time for worrying about anything or anyone else. He felt sudden guilt at the neglect he had shown his friends the past few months.  
  
"Oh," Ron intervened as he slapped his forehead, as if something important had just occurred to him. "Forgot to tell you! Mum wants you to come stay with us over the summer."  
  
"Thanks for that, Ron," Harry laughed. "Better late than never. I guess I'll be over...need to clear it with Uncle Vernon, but I can't see why he'd want to keep me at all."  
  
"Yeah, I can't guarantee it'll be much fun though," Ron went on. "Fred and George are finally graduating, Mum's thrilled there's no more 'family shame' and whatnot. Anyways they're staying in their own place above the new shop in Diagon Alley. Bill and Charlie are off doing their own thing, Percy's always at the Ministry. It'll be you, me, mum, dad, and Ginny."  
  
"Sounds fine to me," Harry replied, giving a sideways glance to Ginny, who smiled brightly in his direction.  
  
Zora nearly collapsed immediately as she placed her feet on the floor of the Infirmary. Even though she had only been awake a few hours, she was tired of lying in bed and was desperate for at least a tiny walk around the room. Of course, it was a tad more difficult to move than she originally thought it would be. It was as if she were trying to learn to walk again. She supported herself on the bed as she struggled to find her legs.  
  
"Zora, what on earth are you doing?" Professor McGonagall shouted as she came into view. "You're not well enough to walk on your own!"  
  
"I've been lying in a bed for three months, I need to walk," Zora explained as she tried to stand on her own.  
  
"Don't be silly," McGonagall said as she came closer and caught Zora's arms before she fell to the floor. "You're not as strong as you were before...it will take a great deal of time for you to recover."  
  
"I'm not like the others, you know that," Zora said as she held her grip on the professor's arms and took a step forward. Pain shot all through her legs and she gripped tightly on McGonagall's forearms to keep her up, but she was walking. "I'm stronger than others...even he said I was stronger than he thought I would be."  
  
"Zora, I don't want to be the one to tell you," McGonagall began with a deep sigh. "You came very close to dieing...too close. It is possible that you will never be that strong again."  
  
"What do you mean?" Zora asked as she took another painful step. McGonagall began to walk backwards, leading Zora every tiny step around the edges of her bed.  
  
"I mean...when most go through what you went through, it takes a few months to recover fully. Someone of your strength should have taken you near two weeks...it took you three months, and you're still not near recovery."  
  
"I still don't see what you're saying," Zora said as she took another step. She was concentrating on trying not to wince from the pain of her muscles and was barely listening to McGonagall.  
  
"You have Muggle strength...and you will never get your original endurance back," McGonagall said with a defeated sigh as she took a step around Zora's bed.  
  
It was the first thing McGonagall said that sunk into Zora's head. She was Muggle...she was normal. It was what she had always wished for when she was little...why was her heartbreaking now that her wish had come true?  
  
"And...and...my...and everything else?" Zora stammered out as she stepped again.  
  
"You're far too weak to attempt anything...when you're strong enough to try out spells, we will see...but it is possible that has left you too."  
  
"I'll be full Muggle then?" Zora asked absently as she stopped walking.  
  
"Yes...Muggle," McGonagall replied as her eyes trailed to the floor.  
  
Zora could see a pain in McGonagall's eyes at having to tell her this. There was a kindness in the professor she never showed in the classroom and rarely outside of it. She was always a "no nonsense" person not to be toyed with, but now that shell was gone and all that was left was a human being. "So, this is what a mother would be like," Zora thought mournfully to herself.  
  
"I'm sorry, Zora," McGonagall said finally. "You should get back in bed."  
  
"I don't want to go back to bed...I want to get out of here," Zora retorted.  
  
"In time," Severus said from the Infirmary door. "I've been making arrangements with Dumbledore, trying to find out how we're going to handle your recovery."  
  
"I don't need a recovery...I'm fine!" Zora said as she sat reluctantly on her bed. She was relieved to find that the pain had left her legs; although, she wouldn't admit it was there to begin with.  
  
"No...you're not fine," Severus said quietly as he darted his eyes to his shoes.  
  
"So it's true then? What am I? A squib?!" she replied angrily with tears in her eyes.  
  
"We don't know anything other than physical...you're a bit weak, but once you're fully recovered we will test you're power and all will be as it should," he replied slowly.  
  
"Optimism doesn't suit you, Severus, so drop it," Zora said as she tucked her legs under her blanket and wiped furiously at her cheeks.  
  
"Fine...you want the truth?" he asked as he walked to the bed with anger in his step, although Zora could not be sure exactly what he was angry at. "It is more than likely that you've lost every ounce of strength and power you possessed before that night and even before you came to Hogwarts. Is that what you wanted to hear?"  
  
"Yeah...that's exactly what I wanted to hear, Severus" Zora replied sarcastically, blinking tears away from her eyes.  
  
She had never imagined that losing something she hated so much would hurt this badly. Would she never be able to perform a spell again? How could she live in the Wizarding World without that power? She'd have to go back to the Muggle World...back to the orphanage.  
  
"In the mean time...it's not safe for you to stay here," Severus said, his voice trying to return to comfort as he stood at the foot of Zora's bed.  
  
"Back to the orphanage?" Zora asked bravely as she feared his honest answer.  
  
Zora felt McGonagall's presence at her side. She wondered if the whole school knew yet she had lost her touch. How all the Slytherin girls were laughing about her right now. She looked to McGonagall and tried to determine if the look on her face was pity...or disgust.  
  
"Actually no," McGonagall replied with a light tone that Zora had never heard before.  
  
"You need to go where someone can care for you...someone who knows how to care for you," Severus explained.  
  
"I'm not going home with Madame Pomfrey, am I?" Zora asked, eyeing her professors worriedly as she imagined a house filled with the stench of Skeleo-Gro.  
  
"No, not Madame Pomfrey. You're going to stay with the Weasleys," McGonagall replied with a smile in her voice.  
  
"The Weasleys?" Zora asked perplexed.  
  
"It's quite a shack of a house I warn you," Severus began, "there are nine people in the family...half are going to be away for most of the summer. It leaves plenty of room. Molly Weasley is a capable woman...those twin sons of hers, Fred and George, keep her busy with those jokes of theirs, plenty of injuries I assure you."  
  
"But...she...she knows what she's doing?" Zora asked.  
  
"It's not very difficult," Severus said as he scratched his chin. "A few potions at certain times of the day, plenty of rest, exercise-."  
  
"Then why can't you do it?" Zora asked in the closest thing to a plee she had ever sounded in her life. "I don't...I know the twins and Ginny and Ron, they're very nice. But to be honest, they're strangers...they were scared of me for the longest time, and they probably still are!"  
  
"No one who works in the school can take you," McGonagall replied. "It's not safe. You escaped, but You-Know-Who is still alive and well. You do get your persistence from him...he'll stop at nothing to get you."  
  
Zora closed her eyes tightly as she fought the urge to tell her professor something extremely rude as usual for acknowledging him as her "father". She felt the anger slip away and a calmness and understanding pass over her. McGonagall was right...she was stubborn and persistent...and she probably did get it from him. She felt her face soften.  
  
"No remarks?" McGonagall asked, perplexed by Zora's calmness.  
  
McGonagall raised her eyes to meet Severus'. He was peering thoughtfully at the unusually silent Zora. Concern written across his face as he realized she was not quite herself anymore, and he wasn't sure who she was exactly.  
  
"I'll go," she said calmly. "I'll stay with the Weasleys. When do I leave?"  
  
"Few weeks when you're well enough for the journey," Severus replied, still looking oddly at Zora. "You're not feeling well?"  
  
"No...it just doesn't seem important enough to argue over," Zora replied, feeling defeated.  
  
"Anyway, I've spoken with Fred Weasley and he's owling his mother about the arrangements. If she agrees, you will stay with her for the summer and if you...improve...we will take it from there," McGonagall said.  
  
"What if I don't? What if...if it's gone? Do I have to go back to the US?"  
  
"No," Severus replied immediately. "You will stay here."  
  
"A joke for everyone to laugh at like Filch?" Zora asked as she cocked an eyebrow.  
  
"Better than being dead. The Burrow, I believe they call it, and Hogwarts, while Dumbledore is present, are probably the safest places for you right now."  
  
"I think you've had enough excitement for one day. You'd better rest," McGonagall interfered.  
  
"Why is everyone obsessed with me resting? I've been asleep for three God-damned months!"  
  
"Things have changed now," McGonagall said as she raised an eyebrow. "Sleep."  
  
McGonagall walked from the side of Zora's bed and passed Severus at its foot.  
  
"Did Draco visit?" Zora asked as if the question pained her. She felt more comfortable discussing personal matters without McGonagall in the near proximity.  
  
"Of course...as did Potter."  
  
"What about Fred Weasley?" Zora asked with a lighter voice than Severus was used to.  
  
"No one else was allowed...just the two and the Heads could stop by," Severus replied.  
  
"I'd forgotten about Draco...I'll need to talk with him before I leave," Zora said as she studied her folded hands.  
  
"You don't have to if you don't want to. I can keep him away."  
  
"I've gotta face it...things are so different now, I've got to explain it to him."  
  
"It'll break his heart," Severus replied and Zora knew he was speaking the truth.  
  
"Worst part is...that doesn't bother me anymore."  
  
The Infirmary door burst open and a bright faced red haired young man walked through. Zora felt her stomach do a complete somersault at the sight of his familiar smile. She lowered her eyes to her hands, completely confused by her reaction. She wasn't supposed to respond this way to him, she never had before...not for him at least.  
  
"Mum's just sent back a reply," Fred said to Severus. "She'll take Zora for the summer. She'll love it," he added to Zora who was still studying her hands.  
  
"Well, she'll need a few weeks before she'll be up for the journey," Severus replied to Fred as he studied Zora's face. Was she blushing? She really wasn't like herself at all. She probably never would be again.  
  
"How are you feeling?" Fred asked as he took a step towards Zora's bed.  
  
"Tired," Zora replied honestly. "Weird isn't it? Sleep for three months and I'm still tired. Are you graduating finally?"  
  
"Yeah, got the certification and all now...mum's real pleased. We got the shop in Diagon Alley...you know, I told you about it at dinner a few months ago."  
  
"Yeah, I remember," Zora replied with a smile, "before...well...everything."  
  
"Well, I think we need to leave you to rest then. Mr. Weasley...that means you too."  
  
Fred gave an agitated nod at Severus before following him out of the Infirmary.  
  
As soon as the door snapped shut Zora slammed her head against her pillows and threw her hands over her face.  
  
"What the hell is happening to me?" she asked herself.  
  
Harry easily piled everything he could fit into his trunk. Final exams had just ended and the next thing to do was head off to Number 4 Privet Drive, the last thing Harry was looking forward to doing. The only think keeping Harry packing was the thought of going to the Burrow for the summer. With any luck, Uncle Vernon would permit him at the platform, and then he could take off with Ron straight from the station. Harry closed the top of his trunk with a satisfying slam before heading down to the common room.  
  
"I'm going to tell Zora bye, anyone want to come?" Harry said to Ron and Hermione who sat on the large red couch in the center of the common room.  
  
"No thanks, mate," Ron said, "I still have to pack."  
  
"Which I told you to do earlier," Hermione chimed in as she rolled her eyes. "You go on, Harry, I guess I need to help Ron pack."  
  
"All right, see you later," Harry smiled as he made his way to the portrait hole.  
  
Harry's shoes slammed against the stone floor as he briskly walked. He noticed a few students glance his way and whisper, but it was nothing out of the ordinary these days. Harry smoothly entered the Infirmary door and walked in and straight to Zora's bed. She was lying on her back as usual and staring at the ceiling.  
  
"Hey, Zora," Harry smiled as he sat on the bed next to her feet.  
  
"Hey," she said without looking at him.  
  
"What's wrong?" he asked curiously.  
  
"I can't lift the book," she replied harshly.  
  
"What?" Harry asked, confused.  
  
"Watch," she said as she sat upright on the bed. She turned her torso towards the night table at the side of her bed and pointed her finger at the stack of school books set on top. She closed her eyes and set her face in concentration. Nothing happened.  
  
"See?" she said after a minute. "I can't do it anymore."  
  
"Well, maybe you need a wand now...that's all. Over the summer, you can get one," Harry said, trying to helpful.  
  
"It's not the point," she said depressingly. "I wish he'd left me," she whispered so low Harry barely heard her.  
  
"What did you say?"  
  
Zora turned her eyes to Harry and replied. "Nothing, don't worry about it. I want to go for a walk, help me."  
  
Harry stood from the bed and made room for Zora to stand. She swung her legs over the side and eased down until she was standing upright on her own.  
  
"How's it feel?" Harry asked as he watched her closely.  
  
"All right, I guess," she sighed as she let go of the bed and took a step. "Wow, I feel like I'm a toddler again...I can finally walk!" she said with a smile.  
  
She took a few steps down the Infirmary and headed for the door.  
  
"You know where my mother's portrait is?" she asked suddenly.  
  
"I think so," Harry replied. He hadn't seen the portrait in a few days, but was sure of the area it was probably located in.  
  
"Good...show me," she said as she began to stiffly walk down the hall.  
  
"Zora, it's too far...I'll show you another time, I promise," Harry urged. "McGonagall's gonna flip if she sees you out of bed."  
  
"You're right and I don't care," Zora said as she placed her hand on the door of the Infirmary.  
  
Suddenly, a loud siren began to blare over their heads, filling the entire room with an echoing of loud noise. Madame Pomfrey immediately came out of her office and glared at Zora as she waved her wand in the air, the sirens turning off just as suddenly as they'd sounded.  
  
"Ms Birk! What do you think you're doing?" she asked as she began to walk toward Zora.  
  
"Trying to spring from the joint," Zora smiled as she turned around and began to stiffly walk back to her bed. "Shouldn't I get off for good behavior at least?"  
  
"Your behavior needs to be good first for that," Madame Pomfrey said as Zora walked past her. "And you, Mr. Potter! Going to escort her were you?"  
  
"He's just slow to stop me is all," Zora said as she climbed back into her bed.  
  
"Ms. Birk, if you don't rest your powers will never return! No one wants to say it, but it's true! Maybe that will keep your bum in that bed," Madame Pomfrey commented just before slamming her office door shut.  
  
Zora glared angrily at the door for a long while and stuck her tongue out at it.  
  
"It's true though," she finally said. "That's why I'm going to the Weasleys' for the summer."  
  
"So am I...well, hopefully."  
  
"Well, if you get there and I'm tied to the bed, think nothing of it," Zora said with a smile.  
  
"I'll only think something of it if Fred's there."  
  
"You need to be quiet about that!" Zora burst out, her cheeks flushed and her eyes wide.  
  
Harry could not think off hand a time when he saw Zora blush, and he eyed her closely as the scarlet receded. When she looked calm and as close to normal as Zora could be, he continued.  
  
"I wanted to tell you something," Harry began seriously. "But I don't want to upset you. You remember that dream I had? The one with you and Ginny? I've had it every other night since...that night. Draco said something about you knowing more than you were saying-."  
  
"Harry, listen to me. I know a lot of things I wish I didn't. And to be honest with Ginny, because I know that's what you're thinking of...it's complicated. In one scenario, she dies when she's 86 year old with three great grand children at her side. In another, she died her first year in the Chamber of Secrets. In another she died yesterday from falling off her broomstick."  
  
"What about my dream?...Draco's in it now-."  
  
"Draco?" Zora asked promptly.  
  
"Yeah, he's there telling me 'it's only just beginning'. I know it means something...you know it too. I need you to tell me what it means," Harry said.  
  
"I can't tell you," Zora replied honestly. "It's just like the Quidditch scores; it will mess it up and make it worse."  
  
"This isn't Quidditch!" Harry replied impatiently.  
  
"No, this is a dream. You have to treat it like that. It can change; it's not set in stone. If it happens, it happens...if it changes it changes. I'm sorry, Harry...it's my fault you're having these dreams. I should have been more careful with mixing blood."  
  
"So, there's nothing I can do? To protect her or you?" Harry asked, hoping she would give him the answer he wanted to hear.  
  
"Welcome to my world," Zora said with a weak smile. 


	2. Chapter 2

Dumbledore leaned against the back of his chair, listening to the epic tale Lara Birk had brought to him. Severus was gazing out of the window, looking for anyone suspicious who could be searching for her. Surely they would be wondering where she was by now, or perhaps they, like her, didn't think she'd be the one to take to the spell.  
  
"Then I started thinking about everything that comes along with this," Lara said as she reached the end of her tale. "I just can't be responsible for so many horrible things."  
  
"Well, you certainly are correct...you have gotten yourself into quite a mess," Dumbledore said with a twinkle in his eye.  
  
"Can you help me?" Lara pleaded. She squeezed her hands together, begging them to stop shaking.  
  
"I may be able to, but you must answer a few questions of mine," Dumbledore began. "For one...this other child, the one he fears. When will it be born?"  
  
"The end of summer some time...July or August," Lara replied.  
  
"How can you be sure?"  
  
"We're not sure...he's following the prophecy."  
  
"But why go through so much trouble unless he has concrete proof?"  
  
"He's not one to take too many chances. If someone told him a black dog would kill him, he would have every black dog he could find killed immediately. He found out someone is being born who will destroy him, he's going to do everything he can to try and stop it."  
  
"As harsh as it sounds, why not simply kill the child?"  
  
"He's vain as well. Where is the glory in killing a child? But an excuse for a line of descendants of his pure blood...now there's something of legends."  
  
"And you gave yourself freely to this spell?"  
  
"If I didn't...I would be dead now. You do not live under his wing without the possibility of being crushed when you disobey."  
  
"You said the girl who is pregnant with the boy has already come forward...what it her name?"  
  
"Why do you need to know that?" Lara asked as she eyed the professor. It was one thing to ask for help, it was another to endanger the lives of others. No matter how badly she wanted this to end...she didn't want anyone to get hurt either.  
  
"I need to know for my own purposes...for the child's future, for the well being of everyone, I need to know who the boy is to be."  
  
"Her name...is Narcissa," Lara said with a deep sigh.  
  
"Malfoy's wife?" Severus interjected for the first time since entering the office.  
  
"Yes...I don't know what the boy's name will be, but his mother is Narcissa Malfoy."  
  
"Why am I not surprised?" Severus said with a scoff.  
  
"Malfoy," Dumbledore said thoughtfully. "And can you explain this spell being cast on the two children to me? How does it work? Is there anyway we can prevent it?"  
  
"The only way to break the spells on the children is by death..." Lara said quietly.  
  
"Death...death...death...death," echoed through Zora's mind as she slowly began to drift back to consciousness.  
  
She looked to the plain white ceiling and blinked her eyes several times. This was not the first time or the last time Zora would dream about her mother, but that didn't make it any easier to witness.  
  
She threw her legs over her beds and eased herself onto the floor, careful to balance her as she stood. Her legs no longer hurt when she walked and weren't as stiff and easier to manage as she walked. She strolled down the long row of empty beds to the sealed wall at the end of the wing. She placed her hand on the cool surface and felt nothing but cold death beneath her fingertips. She removed her hand quickly from the wall and began to ease back to her bed.  
  
She climbed into bed and gazed out of the window. The horizon was turning a bright shade of blue as the sun began to approach. It must have been close to five in the morning. Zora smiled as she thought this was the time she usually stopped reading and began preparing for her lessons; never sleeping through the night if she slept at all. She missed the feeling of being capable of staying awake for full weeks without even feeling tired. Then she remembered how great if felt to actually be able to sleep, the feeling of a bed and pillow beneath you, the warmth of a blanket over you...all feelings she could now experience each night. All comforts she could take with the hell of her dreams.  
  
"Awake already?" Severus asked as he approached her bed.  
  
"Eight hours is all I need, I went to bed early last night," she replied, not breaking her gaze at the rising sun.  
  
"That's good," he replied although there was no smile in his voice.  
  
"I dreamt about my mother again last night," Zora said as he sat in the chair next to her bed.  
  
"Oh? What did you see?" Severus asked casually.  
  
"Her telling the story to Dumbledore," Zora replied as she watched the sky begin to turn pink as the sun became more brilliant. "Do you remember it?"  
  
"Of course I do, I was there wasn't I?" he said coldly.  
  
"Yes, you were. You weren't surprised it was Narcissa?"  
  
"Not at all, they were always close to the Dark Lord," Severus replied.  
  
"What about my mother? Was she close to him?"  
  
"Not really...more obedient than friendly. She'd do just about anything for him," Severus said.  
  
"Was...was she weak?" Zora asked as if it pained her to say it. Voldemort's words had pained her mind ever since they were spoken. She always posessed a perfect image of her mother in her mind, and the Dark Lord had shattered them that night.  
  
"No...for her to go through everything she did, I'd say she was quite strong, perhaps a tad too 'act first, think later', but still strong."  
  
"I want to see her portrait before I leave," Zora said.  
  
"I can't do that...we never quite know where it is," Severus replied quietly.  
  
"What do you mean you don't know where it is?" Zora asked with a twinge of annoyance in her voice, but still not breaking her gaze with the sun.  
  
"It moves...it's a living painting. It goes where no one will see it, it doesn't like to be looked upon, but once you see it...it haunts you. It can be in two places at once, or no where at all."  
  
"How is that possible?"  
  
"A lot of things are possible in the wizarding world."  
  
"But not likely," Zora smiled faintly as the sun began to form into a full circle over the horizon.  
  
"What are you doing? Staring contest with the view?" Severus asked with his usual exasperated tone that Zora was quite accustomed to and more than happy to ignore.  
  
"If the sun makes my powers go haywire...then it means I still have them. I'm trying to see if I still have them."  
  
"It's too soon to tell."  
  
"Then when is it the time? It's been a month since I woke up and still nothing!"  
  
"I know...I know this is hard for you," Severus said and Zora caught his tone as forced gentleness.  
  
"Bullshit!" she said as she finally tore her eyes from the sunlight, spots of blue and green in her vision and at last fed up with his sarcastic tones. "You don't know anything about what I'm going through right now! None of you know!"  
  
"If you dare speak to any of the Weasleys like that...they'll throw you out without a second thought," Severus said calmly.  
  
"Well, maybe they'll know what stupid things not to say...maybe they'll be sensitive and compassionate, unlike some people I know who can't stop using their classroom tone with me."  
  
"Don't confuse compassion with pity, because that's what you're going to get - pity," Severus said as he shifted slightly in his chair.  
  
"No...that's all I get from you and everyone else. I see it in your eyes, all of you. You pity me for losing it...you feel sorry for me because I can barely walk. I'm sick of it."  
  
"Obviously you're feeling more like yourself if you can argue about the stupidest things...feeling well enough to take a journey I hope?" he added as he stood from the chair and walked out of the Infirmary.  
  
"Gladly, I'll leave this afternoon!" she shouted at him as the door closed.  
  
Zora stood in her dormitory room. The five beds looked cold and unwelcoming as did the rest of the damp cold dungeon. She wondered how she survived living here for an entire year as she carefully placed her belongings into her trunk. She reminded herself that she was rarely here throughout the year. Most of her time was spent in her training room with Severus and the other professors. She could hear footsteps approaching although it did not frighten her, it was probably just Severus coming to insult or yell more. He was on edge and Zora couldn't tell why...part of her didn't want to know anymore.  
  
"I'm sorry," his stiff voice echoed from the open doorway.  
  
"I know," she replied as she began refolding her T-shirts and placing them in the trunk.  
  
"I didn't mean to be cross with you earlier...this situation is all very new to me, I'm still not accustomed to it," he explained although there was a lack of emotion in his voice, not that it was unuasual.  
  
"It's not new," Zora replied with a clam anger, "it's been here a year. Hell, it's been here almost seventeen years," she added as she calmly folded a pair of jeans and set them in the trunk.  
  
"I'm sorry for that too...I didn't mean to be absent."  
  
"Then what was your intention on bringing me there? To visit every Sunday? Someone came and got me out...that's all that matters, even if it wasn't you. Let's not talk about it anymore," Zora said finally as she lightly shook her head, trying to knock her bitter anger away.  
  
"I won't have you leaving this castle angry with me," Severus said after a long pause.  
  
"Then I'd never leave," Zora said as she final turned to look at his face. "Why didn't you just leave me?"  
  
"Because he would've found you and-."  
  
"No...that night...why didn't you just leave me alone in the Infirmary? Leave me at peace. It would have saved the world a lot of trouble of doing it later. Now, I'm here...weak and completely confused. Why didn't you just let me die on that bed?"  
  
She could see he was baffled by her statement. He didn't know what to say, so he stood and stared at her.  
  
"I have my reasons," he said finally in his cold yet familiar tone.  
  
"Well...isn't that informative," she sneered as she turned back to her packing.  
  
"I didn't want you to die...it's a selfish reason, but it was reason enough for me...satisfied?"  
  
"I wanted to die, Severus...I was ready to go," Zora continued bitterly as she slammed her clothing into her trunk with increasing force, her cool calm slipping. "I still have to deal with everything that was coming to me only now it's so much worse."  
  
"Now it should be easier without your ties to Draco," Severus replied.  
  
"But he still has ties to me," Zora replied as she shook her head, the long strands flying about as they shook.  
  
"We're still trying to find something to remove it," Severus said.  
  
"You've been looking for sixteen years...it's not there," Zora said as she began adding her books to the trunk, satisfied as the loud clunks erupted in her ears.  
  
Zora looked around the room and noticed that there was suddenly nothing left to pack. She really would have to leave now...she would have to say goodbye. She slowly closed the lid of the trunk, feeling all anger she felt towards Severus melt away at the thought of leaving him. He was the closest thing to a parent she had ever had and perhaps she the closest to a daughter? She would probably never know how he felt about that.  
  
She turned and let out a deep calming breath as she began to drag her trunk to the doorway.  
  
"You're still angry with me?" he asked, refusing to move from the doorway.  
  
"No," she replied, slowly shaking her head.  
  
"I hoped not," he sighed with relief and a hint of a smile. "One day...you will understand why I did what I did and I hope you truly forgive me then. I didn't know bringing you back would be so hard for you but it is better than before, isn't it? I know you see things clearer and they make more sense...you understand why you cannot even be friends with Draco?"  
  
"Yes," Zora smiled as she nodded her head.  
  
"Then it's an improvement from before," he smiled his rare smile.  
  
"How could I have been so stupid?" she asked as she remembered her actions from just months earlier.  
  
"You weren't stupid..." he assured her in a strange tone...an attempt at comforting, Zora guessed, "you were under the spell, you thought it was Romeo and Juliet I'm sure...but now you know better and you must stay away from him, understand?"  
  
"Of course," she smiled.  
  
Severus gave her a nod and a crack of a smile, although it did not suit his face. She returned his smile, more from amusement that happiness. She was definitely going to miss him. He took a step closer and gave her a tight embrace. The gesture was tender and loving and felt as though he had not exchanged such an embrace in years.  
  
"I'm going to miss you," she whispered with a smile.  
  
"My abuse and mistreatment?" he asked as he pulled away. "Please, you'll be sleeping all day, being served breakfast in bed, surrounded by people your own age, and not to mention decent cooking."  
  
"And I'll just get fatter and fatter until my butt explodes," Zora laughed.  
  
"Just rest this summer, get your strength back...we'll worry about exploding butts when you get back," Snape replied.  
  
He finally stepped aside from the doorway and allowed Zora to pass through the opening. She dragged her trunk all the way up to the entrance hall where a carriage being led by one of Hagrid's winged horses stood. 


	3. Chapter 3

Harry lie in his bed, staring out the window. It had been nearly an hour and Hedwig still hadn't returned. Of course, it did take at least an hour to fly to the Burrow...and at least an hour back...not to mention the time to read and write a reply. Harry wished Ron could learn to use the telephone properly, and then communication wouldn't take this long.  
  
It had to be tonight, he couldn't take this house anymore. If only Uncle Vernon had agreed to let him leave...to go straight with the Weasleys at the station. He would never have to see their faces again. The idea of him leaving, flying away of course, looking back on Number 4 Privet Drive and knowing it was the last time brought an immediate smile to his face.  
  
However, Harry was still stuck in this God awful room. The walls were completely bare, and barely anything was lain out for his use other than the essentials. Everything else was piled into his closet as usual; only now it stayed completely packed away as it was on his first day back. Harry had never bothered to unpack his things at all this summer; he was expecting to be leaving any day, but for some reason Mrs. Weasley was having trouble letting Ron allow Harry to visit. Why?  
  
Harry turned his head from his window and looked to the door. His Firebolt stood propped in its usual corner so that when the door was opened it was completely hidden from view. Only Harry stayed in the room with the door closed so only Harry was the one who could look at it. Harry let out a sigh as if it were painful to look at now. He wished he were back at Hogwarts...with friends and people who mattered, back flying that broomstick and feeling the cold wind in his hair.  
  
Harry felt his eyelids grow heavier and heavier until he felt himself gliding on that broomstick. He was no longer on the Hogwarts pitch, but he was somewhere else. The stadium seats towered high over him. The green field was cleaner and much better kept than the one at Hogwarts. The grass squished silently under his boots as he walked along side Oliver Wood.  
  
"Good catch that was at last game, Harry," Wood was saying as they walked to the center of the pitch.  
  
"Thanks, Wood," Harry smiled, pleased with himself, as he mounted his broom. "Then again, Krum wasn't there was he?"  
  
"Oh, don't worry about that...or at least for a few more matches that is," Wood replied.  
  
TAP TAP TAP  
  
Harry shot up in his bed, startled by the sudden interruption. He fixed his glasses back on his face and eyed his window. Hedwig's brilliant white wings were fluttering just outside the glass, a black night sky painted behind her. Harry peered at his wristwatch as he placed his feet on the floor and went to open the window. It was close to ten o'clock now.  
  
He flew open the window and let Hedwig flutter inside the room. As Harry was pushing the window closed again, a hand flew under it and pushed it back up. Harry stumbled back, caught off guard by the intrusion. He wondered quickly were his wand was and looked to his night table. He scrambled to his feet and dove for the wand, pointing it immediately to his window.  
  
The arm became visible and gave Harry a little wave before an entire head entered the room. Harry let out a laugh and lowered his wand when he saw the flaming red hair of his best friend.  
  
"And what exactly were you planning on doing with that?" Ron smiled.  
  
"Take off one of your ears I think...I hadn't thought it that much through," Harry smiled as he went over the help Ron into the room.  
  
Ron stumbled slightly, creating a few thumps on the hard wooden floor.  
  
"Shh!" Harry warned him. It was ten o'clock; Uncle Vernon was just below the room watching the evening news.  
  
"Are you ready?" Ron asked, looking around the room, searching for something.  
  
"Ready?" Harry asked, perplexed.  
  
"Read the note on Hedwig," Ron replied as he went to Harry's closet and threw open the doors. "I can't get all my stuff to fit in my entire room, how do you get it in one closet?"  
  
Harry went to Hedwig as Ron spoke and gently removed the letter tied to her foot. He gently stroked her feathers as he read.  
  
"Harry-  
  
Rescue mission to commence at ten o'clock, be ready.  
  
-Ron"   
  
"Well," Harry smiled, "that's informative isn't it?"  
  
Harry helped Ron gently pull all of his belongings out of the closet and throw the 'essentials' around his room into his trunk.  
  
"Well...guess I got a little excited when mum finally said 'yes'... I should have said eleven or twelve since I sent her off at nine. I just couldn't wait," Ron smiled as he threw Harry's comb into the trunk. He took a stack of pictures from the night table and quickly went through them.  
  
"It's ok...as long as I get out of here, I don't care what time it is," Harry smiled as he through a few dirty pajama tops into the trunk.  
  
"This is a good one of Hermione," Ron smiled as he held up a familiar picture. Harry moved closer and recognized the picture immediately. It was his favorite too, not of Hermione but of Ginny. The two girls were a bit younger than now, and whispering idly to each other and giggling occasionally. "Ginny too," he added quickly when his eyes trailed form his girlfriend and finally acknowledged that his sister too was in the picture.  
  
He slid the picture to the bottom of the pile and continued to flip through the pictures.  
  
"Have you used your camera?" Ron asked as he went to the trunk and carefully placed the stack on the top of the dirty pajama tops. Ron and Hermione had given him a camera for Christmas the previous year, this was the first time he had mentioned the gift.  
  
"Yeah," Harry replied, "Remember Hermione got a hold of it while we were napping in the common room? I can't develop the film here...I need to go to Diagon Alley and develop them."  
  
"We'll make a stop some time," Ron replied as he slammed the trunk shut.  
  
"Hold on," Harry said as he peered around the room. There were a few things he had left untouched. He looked under his bed and found an old shoe box filled with little things Ron could not imagine having any value at all.  
  
"Do you need that?" Ron inquired as he peeped in the box.  
  
"Not really, but I better take it," Harry replied as he opened the trunk and slipped it inside. "I don't think I'll be coming back for it."  
  
Ron opened his mouth as if to say something, but closed it and nodded his head.  
  
"Ok, Mr. Genius," Harry began, "how are we getting out of here?"  
  
"Oh, that's easy," Ron replied. "Tie your trunk to your broomstick, and we fly."  
  
"And no one will see us?" Harry asked.  
  
Ron untied a piece of rope he had tied around his waist and handed it to Harry.  
  
"Course not, we'll go above the clouds," Ron replied as if this answer were obvious.  
  
Harry went to his Firebolt and attached it to on of the handles on his trunk. He dragged it next to his window and gave a final glance around the room.  
  
"You should leave a note, shouldn't you?" Ron asked as he watched Harry get close to the window.  
  
"No," Harry decided. "I don't think they'll miss me."  
  
Harry mounted his broomstick and carefully glided out of the window. He saw Ron's broomstick lying on the roof and handed it to him in the room. Ron mounted the broomstick and followed Harry out of the bedroom window and into the night. Harry looked back for the last time on number 4 Privet Drive and smiled to himself. After this year at Hogwarts, he was free to go where he pleased and he couldn't wait.  
  
The wind whipped pleasantly through Harry's hair and he was tempted to start doing barrel rolls and heart racing dips as he flew next to Ron. However, he soon remembered he was still flying over the Muggle world and thought a teenage boy dipping from the sky would be something to notice. He peeped through the clouds every so often and caught a glimpse of the cities below his dangling feet. Millions of tiny lights matching millions of people. None of them knew he was flying miles over their heads.  
  
"How much further?" he asked Ron, as he glanced down at the headlights sprinkled over the road.  
  
"Not much," Ron smiled. "Just passed the next city."  
  
Harry nodded his head and began flying a bit faster, although not quite as fast as he could go. He remembered Ron's Cleansweep was no match for his Firebolt, but Harry's excitement at seeing the Burrow again was too much to handle calmly.  
  
"C'mon, Harry," he heard Ron exclaim a few feet behind him. "You'll be sitting on the lawn by yourself if I'm not there to bring you in!"  
  
"Then hurry up!" Harry smiled as he darted forward a little.  
  
"You're lucky you have a Firebolt or I'd catch up with you and knock you right off!" Ron replied as he pushed his broomstick to the limit.  
  
With all the racing and teasing going on, Harry and Ron arrived at the Burrow immediately. All the lights in the house were dim if on at all. Harry looked at his watch and saw it was close to eleven o'clock.  
  
"Your mum knows I'm coming, right?" Harry asked Ron as they began to drag his trunk up to the front door.  
  
"Of course...it's just that things are a bit quieter with Zora here now," Ron replied as he opened the front door.  
  
"Zora's here?" Harry asked with surprise.  
  
"Only a few days, but she needs rest or something, mum insists on having the house quiet while she's here," Ron said as he rolled his eyes.  
  
They entered the living area where Mrs. Weasley was sitting on the couch and reading a Gilderoy Lockhart book. Harry peered at the cover of the sickening smiling man and felt himself roll his eyes.  
  
"Oh, Harry dear," Mrs. Weasley smiled quietly.  
  
She set the book down and rushed over to Harry and wrapped her arms around his thin body.  
  
"Those Muggle relatives of yours!" she exclaimed, but then quickly quieted herself as she looked up to the ceiling. "We'll have you in the right shape in no time at all."  
  
"That's fine, Mrs. Weasley," Harry smiled. "Is it true Zora's here?"  
  
"Yes, poor child. She's sleeping now."  
  
"All she does is sleep," Ron intervened with a smile.  
  
"Well, you would too, Ronald, if you had gone through all she has. Poor dear, lost her strength and her powers," Mrs. Weasley said with a mournful shaking of her head.  
  
Harry looked up to the ceiling and wondered if Zora had lost her hearing as well. She had heard a whispered conversation between McGonagall and Snape from the other end of her room at least the size of half a Quidditch pitch. He hoped for Mrs. Weasley's sake that she had lost the ability and could not hear what Mrs. Weasley was saying.  
  
"I am sorry we could not have you sooner, Harry...we were waiting for Zora to arrive and then we'd take you on for the summer as well. That's what Dumbledore told us to do, anyway...although I don't really understand it. Well, there's food in the kitchen if you two are hungry. Try not to stay up too late...and please keep it down. Poor girl needs at least twelve hours rest a day, you know?"  
  
Mrs. Weasley gave each boy a kiss on the cheek, stretching upward as much as possible to reach for each. Harry had forgotten how short Mrs. Weasley was and wondered if she were shrinking or if it were possible he and Ron had grown even taller. She gave them a smile before quietly tip-toeing up the stairs.  
  
"Is that true about Zora? She needs all that sleep?" Harry asked as he moved into the kitchen.  
  
He took a cookie from a plate in the center of the large wooden table and greedily ate the whole thing.  
  
"Well...not exactly," Ron smiled. "I'm sure she probably needs all the sleep, but she doesn't get it...mum only thinks she does."  
  
"What do you mean?" Harry asked as he reached for another cookie.  
  
"Psst," Harry heard from behind him.  
  
Harry and Ron turned their eyes through to open kitchen doorway and to the staircase. A familiar red haired girl was peering around the living room and then back to the kitchen.  
  
"She's just gone up, Gin...come on down," Ron said as he reached for another cookie.  
  
Ginny smiled and walked to the kitchen. She was followed quickly by the bright eyed girl Harry shared a scar with; Zora really was at the Burrow.  
  
"Yes! She made cookies," Zora said excitedly as she reached across the table to the plate.  
  
"Aren't you supposed to be in bed?" Harry asked as he eyed the familiar bright smile.  
  
"Yes, sir, I am, Mr. Potter," Zora replied with a smile before she took a large bite out of the cookie in her hand. "C'mon, Harry...I sleep all day, how can she expect me to sleep all night as well?"  
  
"It's probably better if you stay in bed the day and sleep the night," Ginny replied in a very motherly tone. Zora gave her a slight smile before taking another bite of her cookie.  
  
"Well, I for one don't sleep all day and I'm very tired," Ron said as he finished his cookie. "I'm off to bed."  
  
"Me too," Ginny yawned. "Night all," she said with a wave of the hand before following her brother up the staircase.  
  
"How's your aunt and uncle?" Zora asked once the silence began to annoy her.  
  
"All right I guess, they're going to get a big surprise when they wake up," Harry smiled.  
  
"You didn't tell them you left?" Zora asked curiously.  
  
"No," Harry replied when he realized that Zora was truly asking a question. Most of the time, she had a gleam in her eye or a smile as she asked a question which told him she already knew the answer, but now she was curious and trying to read him. She must truly have lost her powers if she was no longer dreaming.  
  
"How's it here? You like it?" Harry asked politely.  
  
"Sometimes...Mrs. Weasley's nice and all, but she's fussy," Zora said with a kind smile. "And Ginny and Ron are great, they put up with me at least."  
  
"You stay in your room all day? Pretending to sleep?"  
  
"Most of the time I am sleeping, but I can't sleep for more than eight hours. Trust me, I tried and it's a curse."  
  
"A curse? Not being able to sleep?"  
  
"Yes! I actually like sleeping now and as soon as eight hours hit BAM, I'm awake again," she replied.  
  
"Do you feel any better? Anything...coming back?" Harry inquired curiously.  
  
"No...I've been looking through Ginny's potion books trying to see if I can potion my way through magical life, but they aren't much help."  
  
"Zora, can I ask you something?" Harry blurted out after a long pause.  
  
"No...I know what you're going to ask," Zora replied.  
  
"How do you know if I don't ask?" Harry chuckled.  
  
"I'm weak...powerless...hopeless perhaps, but I am not a dumbass. I know it's not about your dreams, because I already explained a absolutly can't tell you about those. There's only one question left and I know what you want to ask because I've darted the topic before and I know you want to know. I'll tell you when I'm ready, I promise," Zora replied.  
  
"But...I just...why can't you tell me?" Harry stammered out.  
  
He had been dying to know about Draco and there were too many questions to sum up in just one. He wanted to know everything, the whole history. She just looked at him with a sad expression, reminding Harry of her mother's portrait. She gave him a small smile and rose from her seat at the table.  
  
"I'm off to bed, see you in the morning," she said as she turned and went to the door.  
  
"Not even a little hint?" he called after her.  
  
She waved her hand at him before trotting soundlessly up the stairs. Harry let out a frustrated sigh. Was it really that big a secret that she didn't want to tell him? It seemed unfair somehow that she wouldn't tell him, despite the fact that Harry could think of no life altering secret he had shared with her. It seemed they were beyond keeping secrets from each other somehow. With everything that had happened to them in the past year, couldn't she trust him now?  
  
Harry took one last cookie from the table and ate it as he trotted all the way up the stairs to the fifth landing and went to bed.  
  
Zora opened the door to Percy's old bedroom and closed it quickly behind her. She closed her eyes tightly and tried to calm herself down.  
  
"I guess I'll have to tell him sometime," she whispered to herself. "But not now...I don't even want to think about it now."  
  
She walked over to the bed and dropped onto it, making the mattress squeak uneasily. She was actually feeling a bit tired as she lay down on the comfortable mattress. Her eyes began to drift closed subtly until the ceiling disappeared into black.  
  
"Severus," Lara called up the staircase.  
  
"I'll be right down," he called back as he finished up his talk with Dumbledore.  
  
"Whenever she's ready...do not stand in her way," Dumbledore said in a hushed voice.  
  
"But isn't there...something we can do? Anything at all? Why can't she stay here? Does she really not have any other choice?"  
  
"He will find her here...he already knows she is with us," Dumbledore insisted. "Severus, I know how you feel about her, but I cannot guarantee the safety of her or of the child."  
  
"A Secret Keeper? Something?" Severus asked desperately.  
  
"She has refused one, you cannot protect someone unless they want to be protected," Dumbledore added with a bit of sorrow in his voice. "I'm sorry, Severus...there's nothing we can do. She wants to leave...you have to let her."  
  
At that Dumbledore turned and left the entrance to the room. Severus watched after him before turning and walking down the cold stone staircase. He admired the tall windows for a moment before he hit the floor of the elaborate room.  
  
TAP TAP TAP  
  
Zora's eyes fluttered open. She lie in agitation before she sat on her bed, she was hoping he wouldn't know what room to pick and that maybe he would give up. But of course...he would know. She casually walked around her night table and to the window and opened it. The graceful legs entered and landed smoothly on the floor, followed by the torso and head of matching elegance. He wore a pleasant smirk that would have weakened Zora's knees...about four months ago that is.  
  
"I was out there nearly five minutes," he complained although he was still smiling.  
  
"I would've left you out there longer if I had known," she replied.  
  
"Dreaming?" he asked as he sat comfortably on the bed. She hated how he could always look perfectly at home anywhere he pleased.  
  
"How'd you guess?" Zora asked as she folded her arms and looked at him.  
  
"I could hear you saying my name repeatedly, of course," he said casually as he patted a spot on the bed nest to him.  
  
"I wasn't dreaming about you if you must know," she said coldly as she walked around the bed and to the rocking chair in the corner. She sat in it and gently rocked back and forth, the rhythm easing her mind a bit.  
  
"Quite a dump they've stashed you in isn't it?" he said as he looked distastefully to the walls and furniture.  
  
"It's supposed to be a place where no one can find me...but I guess we see how well that works," she added with a sneer.  
  
"So unhappy to see me? Didn't miss me at all?" he asked.  
  
"Not really," she replied.  
  
"Ouch!" he said as he placed his hand on his chest. "You're cold, you know that?!"  
  
"If you're not quiet...you'll wake the Weasleys and then we'll both be in trouble," she said as she sat straight in the chair and glared at him.  
  
"Then I can take you from here...you can stay at the mansion if you wish...no one needs to know you're there," he replied quickly as if he'd been waiting to say it.  
  
"And Lucius won't notice a strange girl sitting at his dinner table eating his food? Please, Draco...he'll tell Voldemort where I am. Draco, you have to understand I need to stay away from him until I start school...if I start school...if I get my- never mind. I need you to be quiet about where I am, understand?"  
  
"Of course...I won't tell," Draco insisted. He lay his bed back on Zora's pillow and closed his eyes.  
  
"So why are you here?" Zora asked as she settled back into her rocking chair.  
  
"You know why," he replied as he dug into his pocket. Without looking, he tossed the contents of his pocket towards the corner she was sitting in. She caught the green wrapped box in her left hand and peered at it cautiously.  
  
"Where's my present?" he asked casually with his eyes still closed.  
  
"What makes you think I got you anything at all?" she asked coldly as she eyes the green paper.  
  
"Je vous connais. Où est-il ?" he asked casually, the words rolling gracefully from his mouth.  
  
"Dans le tiroir du nightstand...Oh mon Dieu ! Je parle français !" Zora exclaimed as she rose to her feet.  
  
"Of course you speak French!" he replied as he looked at her with a curious expression on his face. He reached over to the night table and opened the drawer as she had told him to, "You've always spoken French."  
  
"But I never learned how! Don't you see?" she said practically jumping up and down. "I can speak French...I might have some powers after all!"  
  
"That's good...right?" he said as he pulled the long box from the drawer.  
  
"Of course it's good...I have something, it's better than nothing," she said as she walked over and sat next to his feet on the bed, placing her apprehension of him aside for this happy moment.  
  
She looked at him intently as he removed the lid of the black box and removed his gift. He smiled as he removed the object and studied it carefully. A dagger like he had never seen before. The handle was formed smoothly of a dragon's body, it's tail reaching out over the middle of the blade, which extended into a deadly point. The detail was extraordinary, each scale carefully carved and the blade itself perfectly formed. It was absolutely gorgeous.  
  
"Do you like it?" Zora asked, a hint if worry in her voice as she studied his face.  
  
"I love it," he chuckled as he ran a thin finger across the scales on the handle.  
  
"It's Muggle, I know...but I still thought you'd like it. I had a few spells put on it, the blade's indestructible and can slice through just about anything," Zora smiled.  
  
"I love it," he repeated with a gleam in his eye. His look made Zora grow suddenly uncomfortable and she rose from the bed and returned to the rocking chair in the corner.  
  
"Your turn," he smiled and carefully set his dagger back into the black box.  
  
She looked uneasily once again at the box before tearing off the green wrapping paper, laughing inwardly when she thought of how she would never escape those colors...green and silver. She removed the lid of the box after a brief pause and stared at what she saw in her hand. A necklace, but quite possibly the most gorgeous one she had ever seen. It was a delicate and very thin silver chain with a diamond snake charm attached to it.  
  
"You don't like it?" he asked as he peered at her face.  
  
"I...I...I absolutely love it," she stammered with a big smile.  
  
She carefully undid the clasp and wrapped the chain around her neck.  
  
"Let me help you," he said as he rose from the bed, the mattress squeaking slightly as he did so, and walked over to the chair. She leaned forward a little to give him easier access to the clasp. He quickly linked the two ends together and lowered the chain smoothly onto her neck, his fingers briefly touching her skin, sending shivers down her spine.  
  
She rose from the rocking chair the moment she felt his cold fingers come in contact with her skin. She took in a sharp breath and closed her eyes; she now hated having that feeling every time he touched her. She looked around and walked to the mirror, pretending she did not care if he touched her or not.  
  
The gleaming charm hung just over her heart she noticed as she looked in the mirror. Even in the dull lighting, the diamonds sparkled wildly over the mirror's surface.  
  
"It looks great on you," Draco smiled from behind her shoulder.  
  
"Merci," she said as she gave him a small smile in return.  
  
"Il est tard et vous avez besoin de repos. Je vous verrai plus tard," he said in his graceful tone as he motioned towards her window.  
  
She smiled as she listened, enjoying the sound of his voice as he spoke. She wished suddenly that she had not told him how much she liked the language before, maybe he would speak plainly as everyone else and she could hate him without admiration for his speech.  
  
"Good night," she said as she watched him leave.  
  
"Je vous adore," he said before he slipped through the window.  
  
He sat there, waiting for her to reply. She looked at him and smiled, "Good night."  
  
He nodded his head, wounded as he slipped from the window and left her. She turned back to the mirror and looked admirably at the snake charm.  
  
"Happy Birthday, Zorina," she whispered to herself as she tore her eyes from the image and climbed back into bed.  
  
"Je vous connais. Où est-il ?" -"I know you, where is it?"  
  
"Dans le tiroir du nightstand...Oh mon Dieu ! Je parle français !" - "In the drawer of the nightstand...Oh my God! I speak French!"  
  
"Merci," - "Thank You"  
  
"Il est tard et vous avez besoin de repos. Je vous verrai plus tard," - "It is late and you need rest. I will see you later"  
  
"Je vous adore," - "I adore you" 


	4. Chapter 4

"Good night," she said as she watched him leave.  
  
"Je vous adore," he said before he slipped through the window.  
  
He sat there, waiting for her to reply. She looked at him and smiled, "Good night."  
  
He nodded his head, wounded as he slipped from the window and left her. She turned back to the mirror and looked admirably at the snake charm.  
  
"Happy Birthday, Zorina," she whispered to herself as she tore her eyes from the image and climbed back into bed.  
  
Harry tossed and turned most of night, trying his hardest to sleep and at the same time avoiding it as much as possible. Sleeping and especially dreaming hadn't exactly been the most peaceful and calming experience of his recent days. He had been plagued with the same dream of running down the marble halls of Voldemort's castle with blood oozing down a wound in his arm.  
  
He opened his eyes finally when the sun was pouring through the orange curtained windows in Ron's room. He could faintly hear the gentle snoring of his best friend at his side. Harry lie for a moment. He did not smell warm bacon from the kitchen or sense movement anywhere in the house. It was so odd for Harry to find the Burrow completely silent. He wondered if it were only because Mrs. Weasley was so insistent on the house being quiet with Zora needing her rest. Zora...there was something he was remembering now...Zora...what was it? Something important...it was on the edge of his brain, was he supposed to get something for her? Had he agreed to help her with something? No...but there was some reason he wanted to go to Diagon Alley...his film. That was it! What did Zora have to do with his film?  
  
After a few moments of confusion, Harry shook the thoughts out of his head and replaced it on his pillow. He slowly closed his eyes and waited for the smell of breakfast to arouse him from bed. He felt himself slipping from the orange walls and white shinning marble rise up around him. He was pulled from the bed, his blankets and pajamas fading into jeans and a wrinkled shirt. He was forced to make the run. His arm was burning from pain now as he ran.  
  
"But they're safe! They aren't here! This isn't real!" he shouted as he ran against his will, his chest burning with exhaustion.  
  
"You'll never learn, will you?" Draco's voice was echoing in his head.  
  
"Learn what?" Harry asked desperately once he reached the familiar junction, "I'm getting a little tired of these games."  
  
"Is that what you think this is?" Draco's lean form materialized as some sort of reflection in one of the marble walls. "A game?"  
  
"What else is this? Why are you messing with my dreams?" Harry asked crossly as he walked to the reflection.  
  
"I'm not...this isn't messing around or some game," Draco smiled teasingly.  
  
Harry watched as the thin boy emerged from the white marble wall. His hair nearly matched the color of the gleaming marble and his skin seemed just as pale, as if he were made from the stone himself. At any other time, Harry would have been intrigued by the image in his mind, but he was beyond intrigue...he was angry.  
  
"It's really too bad that you're not ready...I was counting on you to get us out," Draco persisted with his superior tone.  
  
Dracp raised his hand and examined his manicured nails with a sigh of some sort of boredom.  
  
"Ready for what?" Harry asked, more annoyed than ever at Draco's habits.  
  
"Not even I know the answer for that," Draco chuckled as he folded his arms and leaned against the marble wall. "You still think it's just a dream...stupidity, Potter...pure and simple."  
  
"You're not making any sense!" Harry shouted as he clenched violently at the black hairs on the sides of his heads.  
  
All Draco did was stand and smile. That same superior smirk he had worn after every joke and snide remark since their first year of Hogwarts. It was too much. Harry smoothly walked over and threw the hardest punch he could at Draco's smirk. The face turned to a cold vapor as his hand made contact and flew into the marble wall.  
  
"Harry?!" rang in Harry's head.  
  
"What?" he popped up.  
  
Ron was standing over him with a worried expression on his face, "You all right, Harry?"  
  
"Yeah...I think so...bad dream," Harry said as he scratched his uncombed head, surprised to find it soaked with sweat.  
  
"Well...it's almost noon, if we wanna talk mum into letting us go to Diagon Alley, we'd better hurry."  
  
Harry nodded his head, noticing the time change from what seemed to be just moments in his head. He threw the covers off his legs and made his way to get dressed, noticing a dull throb in his hand as he did so. He pushed the coincidence from his mind as he fumbled into his clothes.  
  
"Hey, sleepy head," the familiar musical voice called as Harry entered the kitchen.  
  
Zora sat between Ginny and Mrs. Weasley as she sipped from a glass of orange juice as she smiled at him.  
  
"Look who's talking," he smiled as he sat in his chair next to Ron.  
  
Zora gave a soft chuckle before she began to shove spoonfuls of mashed potatoes into her mouth.  
  
"After such a tiring night, it's no wonder Harry slept in," Mrs. Weasley commented kindly from the head of the table.  
  
"Say, mum...er...Harry and I were wondering if it'd be all right for us to go to Diagon Alley this afternoon," Ron said rather timidly from his seat.  
  
"Well...I don't know," Mrs. Weasley said as she eyed the girl to her right and back to her son.  
  
"Well, Harry needs to drop off his film from his camera that he can't develop in the Muggle stores...plus he hasn't seen the twins for a while and they really want to see him," Ron said in one breath with a dignified beg mixed into his tone.  
  
"I don't think it's a good idea," Mrs. Weasley said with a final tone, her eyes floating to the black haired girl on her right.  
  
Although Harry was sure he didn't mean it, Ron immediately turned his eyes to Zora and gave her a rude glare. He settled his eyes and dug into his lunch. Harry too lowered his head and half heartedly ate his meal.  
  
"Ugh," Zora moaned from across the table a few moments later.  
  
"Something the matter, dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked from her side, stretching a comforting hand on Zora's shoulder.  
  
"No, no," Zora commented, as she weakly brushed the hand away, "I think I just need to lie down."  
  
Zora weakly rose from her seat and walked to her room, a hand nursing her forehead as she disappeared up the stairs.  
  
"Harry, go and make sure she's all right," Mrs. Weasley suggested with deep worry in her eyes.  
  
Harry nodded his head and stood from his chair with a squeak. He noticed Ron was looking after the door, guilt imprinted on his face, and Ginny watching him as he moved. Probably just wondering if Zora was all right, Harry thought as he exited the kitchen. He quietly moved up the stairs, careful not to make to much noise and disturb Zora's rest.  
  
Harry placed his hand on the knob and turned it but stopped himself. "It's not Percy's room...it's Zora's," he reminded himself. He let go of the knob and knocked quietly then waited for a response.  
  
"Come in," the weak voice called from the other side.  
  
Harry then opened the door and stepped inside. Zora was lying on the bed with her hands crossed over her chest forming and "X".  
  
"Careful...I'm dead," she smiled.  
  
"You're not really sick, are you?" Harry asked with a chuckle of relief as he sat at the foot of her bed.  
  
"Course not...potions are still working their miracles," Zora said as she propped herself on her elbows. "Just tell Mrs. Weasley I need some chocolate...it does something with dark spells, don't know what but it's a good thing. She never keeps chocolate in the house, so you'll have to go get some."  
  
"...From Diagon Alley," Harry smiled.  
  
"You'll have about two hours there...use them wisely...get me a nice gift," Zora smiled.  
  
BIRTHDAY!!!! It was Zora's birthday! That's why he wanted to go to Diagon Alley.  
  
"Already got you one," he lied remembering that she could no longer see if he were telling the truth or not.  
  
"I knew you wouldn't forget," she said as she eyed him. Or was it just his imagination? Or was it?  
  
"Well," he replied nervously, "better get downstairs and tell Mrs. Weasley how horribly you're doing."  
  
Harry trotted down the stairs as he tried his best to control his smile. He reached the kitchen and put on the best concerned face he could muster.  
  
"She says she needs chocolate...something about dark tendencies or something," Harry said with a worried expression.  
  
"I thought that would help so I picked some up last week, Ginny, dear, would you get-."  
  
"No!" Harry replied desperately. "She...she needs dark chocolate...really dark...chocolate."  
  
"Well...I don't think we have any...maybe the twins will, they own a candy factory for a reason..."  
  
"Maybe Ron and I should go pick some up," Harry said helpfully as he stepped towards the table.  
  
"Of course...Ginny and I will stay here and set up for Zora's party, didn't want to say anything about it in front of her...poor thing, never had a birthday party in her life," Mrs. Weasley commented mournfully.  
  
She walked over the one of the cupboards and removed a piece of parchment from it.  
  
"Here's a list of some things we need, be a dear and pick them up...Ron you know where my purse is. Hurry back, before she wakes up, poor thing," Mrs. Weasley said with a final sad shaking of her head.  
  
Ron nodded his head dutifully and walked out of the kitchen. Mrs. Weasley began to clear the table, the dishes clattering together in her hands. Ginny rose and began to help her, catching Harry's eye as she stood. She looked motherly for a moment and gave Harry and expression of concern. Harry almost laughed, but was careful not to make a sound with Mrs. Weasley still in the room. Instead, he smiled and shook his head. He gave a final wink to Ginny and left the room to retrieve his schoolbag.  
  
"So she was faking?" Ron asked as they walked down the street filled with witches and wizards clad in variously colored robes. The street was a great deal less busy since it was not the beginning of the school year, but it was still filled to a surprising amount.  
  
"Yeah, but I get the feeling she's just using us to get herself some chocolate," Harry replied with a smile as they swerved through the crowd of wizards.  
  
"I don't care...she got us out of the house," Ron replied with a smile.  
  
He turned into the doorway of a narrow building with a shabby exterior. At first Harry thought the shop was abandoned until he saw the tiny wooden sign with "Weasley's Whizzing Wheezes" painted in red outside the front door.  
  
"Not much to look at," Ron admitted as he opened the door, a magical bell rang the death march as it opened and closed, "but they own it...for the year at least."  
  
"Do they do all right?" Harry asked as he looked around the shop.  
  
"Most owl ordering, but yeah...they do all right," Ron commented as he looked around the shop.  
  
There were five different tables and the walls were lined with shelves. Every inch of free space was taken up by joke wands, magical candies, Head Hiding Hats, and a few more new items Harry didn't recognize right away.  
  
"Need any help...Harry!" George said with a smile as he stepped from the back room. "Mum just owled you two were coming over...sorry, we don't have any normal dark chocolate...only some that will turn her teeth black. Don't think she wants that for her big party."  
  
"It's fine, we'll just go somewhere else," Ron assured him.  
  
"Try over at Florean Fortesque's, they'll probably have some...oh yeah, Fred wants me...to tell you...to tell Zora...that he's stopping by the house later on, why he can't just owl her, I'll never know."  
  
"He's still hung up on her then?" Ron asked as he picked up one of the fake wands on the nearest table and examined it.  
  
"Yeah...hasn't stopped, I swear...he acts like he's in...the 'L' word," George added in a hushed voice.  
  
"You mean 'Love'?" Harry asked curiously.  
  
"Harry...so long as I own this store, the words 'love', 'marriage', and 'commitment' shall never be mentioned...especially when involving a relation of mine."  
  
"Sorry, won't happen again," Harry laughed.  
  
"Well...we'd better get going," Ron said rather quickly as he put the wand back on the table, "mum needs us to pick up a few things before we go home."  
  
"Oh...yeah, pick up a few things. Ronney-poo, do tell Hermione 'hello' for me when you see her," George smiled as Ron walked to the doorway.  
  
"At least I have a girlfriend...seems you're the only one in the family without," Ron said as his ears turned crimson.  
  
"The only one with any sanity as well!" George called after them as they left the shop.  
  
Ron's ears turned back to a somewhat normal color as they continued down the street.  
  
"Is Hermione here?" Harry inquired as they walked.  
  
"Yeah, she got a job at Flourish & Blott's, she works in the afternoon and at night straightening the shelves and stuff."  
  
"So, I guess that means you don't really get to see her that much," Harry smiled.  
  
"No, not really," he replied with a depressed sigh.  
  
"So, I know why you wanted to come here...give me the list and the money, I'll meet you at Flourish & Blott's in an hour, all right?"  
  
"Really?" Ron smiled brightly.  
  
He began to frantically dig through his pockets and shoved the contents into Harry's hands, including a few random items Harry had no desire to be holding in his hands.  
  
"You're a real pal, Harry," he smiled.  
  
"No, you just owe me big," Harry smiled as he discarded a few empty candy wrappers and a half eaten chocolate frog.  
  
Ron darted down the street until he was nothing but a red blur.  
  
Harry let a sigh and crossed the street, heading down the list of many things needed for Zora's birthday party.  
  
With many bags in his arms, Harry made the journey back to the bookstore. He made just a quick stop, which turned into several minutes, at the Quidditch supply store on the way. He was admiring the latest broomstick model in the display window when Harry noticed a movement out of the corner of his eye in the reflection. He looked closer and saw an all too familiar face.  
  
"Got your arms full, scar head," Draco sneered behind him.  
  
"What's it to you, Malfoy?" Harry said as he slowly turned.  
  
"Nothing really...too bad I'm not invited to the party," Draco replied with a fake hurt sigh.  
  
"What party?" Harry said what he soon realized was too quickly for it to be believable. No one was supposed to know Zora was at the Weasley except Dumbledore and the Heads of Houses at Hogwarts.  
  
"The one you and the Weasels are giving Zora...tell her I said hello by the way," he added with a distasteful smile.  
  
"I will when I see her on the train at the start of term," Harry said with his most convincing face.  
  
"Really...then, I wonder whose bedroom it was I was in last night," Draco smirked unpleasantly.  
  
The smirk triggered Harry's memory, he half expected Draco to start spouting more confusing language as in his dreams. Harry probably would've preferred it to this...this talk was making too much sense.  
  
"You know...second landing over looking a sad excuse for a garden? Rocking chair in the corner and quite a squeaky bed?"  
  
Harry just stood, not knowing what to say. He was racking his brain for some defense, some explanation, anything. He almost started to say "My dog has three legs" just to stop Draco from continuing his rampage. But instead...Harry just stood.  
  
"You tell her 'hello' for me," Draco smiled triumphantly and walked away.  
  
Harry too walked off towards the bookstore. He tried his hardest to keep his happiest demeanor around Hermione and ignored Ron's distressing deadly glares as he forced him to return to the Burrow.  
  
Severus walked reluctantly down the stone staircase. He looked about the room admirably for just a moment until his gaze fell upon Lara. She was smiling her graceful and bright smile and gently rocking a baby in her arms. Severus forced himself to smile as he approached her.  
  
"She's sleeping," Lara commented in a whisper.  
  
"She'll need a name soon...we can't just keep calling her 'her' and 'she', now can we?" Severus smirked as he stood next to Lara.  
  
"I do hate common names...like mine," Lara went on thoughtfully as she walked to a rocking chair and carefully sat down. "She'll need something unique...and honorable. If he names her, he has control of her...you must name her first."  
  
"I think we can come up with something," Severus assured her, emphasizing on the "we".  
  
Lara only smiled at him as she rocked back and forth. It pained Severus to see her so calm with the situation. The child was born now and there was nothing keeping Lara from going back to him...going back to be killed. She didn't seem worried or concerned in any way. He wondered how she could manage it.  
  
"I had a dream last night," Lara went on as she gazed at her daughter's sleeping face.  
  
"Oh? What was it about?" Severus replied although he was only half listening. He walked over the one of the large windows and gazed at the grounds.  
  
"Her...she was laughing and smiling with a boy, I don't remember what she called him. Henry or something...such a common name. My God, she's going to be beautiful...long black hair and blue eyes. She was friends with the boy...she loved him, cared about him, I could sense that. Do you know what else?"  
  
"No...what?" Severus asked half heartedly.  
  
"She was happy. She's going to be happy. Do you promise to keep her safe?' Lara asked casually.  
  
"I will try my best," Severus assured her as he turned back into the room and looked at her and the baby.  
  
"No...do you promise?" Lara asked more firmly as she stopped her rocking.  
  
"I...I promise," Severus replied as he nodded his head.  
  
She smiled what seemed to be even more, if that were possible. She gazed at him admirably for a few moments. The look in her eyes worried Severus...a look of preparation. It seemed she was looking at him knowing it was the last time she'd ever see him. Memorizing the moment around the two of them and storing it in a place Voldemort could never ruin.  
  
"My arms are getting a bit tired...will you take her to the crib?" Lara asked without taking her eyes from his face.  
  
Severus nodded his head and took the baby from her arms. Lara stoood next to Severus and gazed at the child in his arms. She gently fixed the soft blankets around her baby as Severus carefully held her a bit awkwardly as she squirmed against his hold. Lara let out a chuckle, Severus guessed it was because he looked extremely uncomfortable holding the child. He walked quickly to the edge of the room, afraid that at any moment the baby would squirm too much and slip right out of his arms. He gently rested the baby on the bottom of the crib and turned back to the room. A window was open, letting in the warm summer breeze. Lara was gone.  
  
Severus stepped to the window, but it did no good. She was gone. He heard the baby whimper slightly in its crib as if it sensed the absence before she fell back to sleep. A knot formed in his throat and he angrily pushed it as far down as it would go. He stepped away from the window and slowly closed it.  
  
"Zora! Are you awake?" a voice called from somewhere outside of the elaborate room...outside the dream.  
  
Zora's eyes fluttered open. She wiped immediately at her eyes and found that they were unsurprisingly moist. Of all the dreams she had witnessed in her lifetime, the one of her mother leaving was the absolute worst. Almost symbolically, it was also the one who frequented her sleep the most.  
  
"Yes, Mrs. Weasley...I am now," she called back tiredly.  
  
The door creaked open slowly as Mrs. Weasley entered.  
  
"So, sorry, dear," she said gently. "I know you need your rest, but there's someone to see you."  
  
Zora yawned and rose from her bed. She ran her fingers through her long hair and straightened the wrinkles in her clothing the best that she could. The door creaked open and her visitor entered. He smiled, although hit did not suit his face and crossed over to sit in the rocking chair. 


	5. Chapter 5

"So, sorry, dear," she said gently, "I know you need your rest, but there's someone to see you."  
  
Zora yawned and rose from her bed. She ran her fingers through her long hair and straightened the wrinkles in her clothing the best that she could. The door creaked open and her visitor entered. He smiled, although hit did not suit his face and crossed over to sit in the rocking chair.  
  
"Severus, what are you doing here?" she asked with surprise as she watched him sit.  
  
"Came by to wish you a happy birthday, of course," he smiled again. "I've missed far too many of them...I don't intend to miss any more."  
  
"I'm surprised you remembered," she said as she sat on the foot of her bed, the mattress squeaking beneath her.  
  
"Not exactly a day I could forget," he assured her. "It's quite a dump they've stashed you in isn't it?"  
  
"It's not so bad," she commented as she remembered Draco saying the same thing just hours before. "Comfortable," she added with a smile.  
  
"Mrs. Weasley said you weren't feeling well," Severus said with a hard face; Zora knew this was his concerned expression.  
  
"Oh, I feel better now, just needed some rest," Zora assured him with a small smile.  
  
"Not getting enough?" Severus inquired with a hard tone.  
  
"No...I am, I just needed a little more is all," Zora replied, completely annoyed with him.  
  
"And the potions?" he continued his inquisition.  
  
"Taking everyday on time, and working their wonders," Zora replied. "Stop worrying so much...they're taking good care of me here."  
  
"Any recent visits from Draco?" Severus asked with a blank face and cold tone.  
  
Zora's heart jumped and she replied, "No...not recently."  
  
"Then where did you get that charm around your neck?" he asked coldly as he leaned forward in the rocking chair.  
  
Zora's hand went to her neck. She felt the cool metal beneath her touch, but the chain was well hidden beneath her neckline.  
  
"I saw it when you were fixing your shirt when I walked in," he explained and continued his hard glare on her.  
  
She could lie to him. Draco could have easily owled it to her over night. Or sent a house elf to deliver it. Anything other than the truth. But his eyes were fixed on hers, deep and cold. He would know her lie even before she spoke it. It was the truth or nothing at all.  
  
"Last night," she sighed deeply, feeling the guilt of the truth weighted around her heart as she spoke "but nothing happened!"  
  
"Zora, I don't need to tell you that you should stay away from him...you know all the reasons, but...you must stay away from him."  
  
"I know...I know..." Zora replied quietly.  
  
Severus rose from the rocking chair and crossed over to Zora.  
  
"Maybe this will wake you up...that darling necklace you have around your neck has a tracking charm, a pulse charm, a visualizing spell, and an anti-removal charm all on it. Only he may remove it and he can all but read your thoughts. I'm sure he didn't have time for it in his rush."  
  
Zora pulled the chain out of her robes and studied it. Draco could feel her rising heart beat, he could see her if he wished, he knew exactly where she was...and she couldn't stop it, only he could remove the spells.  
  
"Zora," Severus began as he gently placed his hands on her shoulders, an odd gesture on his part. She suddenly couldn't bare to look at him. All she could do was stare at the gleaming stones encrusted in the form of a snake she held in her pale hands. "Zora...you have to understand that this is not a kind hearted spell put on him and he is not going to act like a schoolboy in love with this. This is dark...it's evil, and he will be too until we reverse it. If you really want to be...friends, then be friends, but do not get yourself alone with him at any time. There's no telling what he may do...what the spell will make him do."  
  
"He wouldn't hurt me," Zora replied, sensing the meaning behind his words, as the stones glimmered up at her eyes.  
  
"That's where you're wrong, Zora...he will," Snape replied.  
  
At that moment, the door opened quickly and Harry fluttered in, looking a bit annoyed, or angry, or was he just tired? Zora couldn't tell.  
  
Harry stood in the doorway, looking at Snape and Zora. They appeared to be having a serious conversation or perhaps it only looked that way. What on earth was he doing here anyway? Was he visiting her on her birthday perhaps? Surely Snape didn't have a mind enough for that.  
  
"Sorry, I didn't know...you had company," Harry said awkwardly in the doorway, clutching the knob in his right hand.  
  
"It's fine," Zora smiled, brushing a hand at her cheek. Her eyes were filled with tears, he could see that now. He got a sudden impulse that they were talking about Draco and he felt a pang of guilt at being suddenly angry at her because of him. "Severus just came to wish me a Happy Birthday. He was just on his way downstairs...weren't you?"  
  
"I suppose I was," he said with a curl of his lip.  
  
Harry waited until Snape had closed the door behind him before he started to speak.  
  
"I ran into Draco at Diagon Alley," he said quickly as if pulling off a bandage from his arm, getting the worst over with as quickly as possible.  
  
"Oh God!" she burst out. Harry stepped back and eyed her cautiously; they had been talking about Draco. "Will I never get rid of him?! Fine! I'll tell you everything, although I'm sure you've figured it out by now."  
  
Zora thrust the necklace she was wearing into her night shirt. Harry wondered for a moment where she had gotten it from...Snape perhaps? Zora wasn't one for jewelry usually, but he supposed all girls were attracted to jewelry at some point. She adjusted herself roughly on the bed, making herself comfortable although Harry saw she didn't look very comfortable at all. Her cheeks were red with annoyance and she was taking in several calming breathes.  
  
"Narcissa was infected with the spell...Draco's the boy who was born like I was. He was raised as I was supposed to be. From his first birthday he was trained to fight, to do dark magic, to...to...to just do everything! His personality is cold because it's how we were supposed to be, we weren't supposed to come in contact with kindness and compassion so that we could not know we were doing wrong. If my mother had kept with Voldemort, I would be the same as he. Pranks...silly fights...the taunting...are him well behaved considering what he is capable of."  
  
"So...that's what you couldn't tell me? He's your...your brother?" Harry asked as he stepped a little closer to her bed.  
  
"He is not my brother," Zora said absently, her eyes filling with tears again. Harry realized he preferred her annoyance and anger to tears. "The prophecy...you would kill Draco and I, and as revenge, our son would kill you."  
  
"Your...son?"  
  
"Don't tell me you didn't think of that before?" she chuckled slightly as a tear escaped from her eyes. She quickly wiped at it. "Why else would he want a boy and girl? Why not two boys? He wanted a pure blood line for himself, one without defects and kinks. Draco is the physical ability...I'm more mental...or at least I was. Together we'd create a perfect killing machine, one with superior intelligence and strength and void of emotion other than anger and vengeance and obedience. Of course, he could've made Draco to be that, but a spell that powerful would kill the mother. I think he actually found that out the hard way. So he needed us first, to endure the spell so that he could have what he wanted."  
  
"And...well...ah...err," was all Harry could muster out as he attempted to speak. "Wow," he said finally as he sat on the bed, the loud squeaking sounding beneath him.  
  
"The thing is...I never wanted that to happen, you know? If I would have that baby...we'd all die...in a nutshell," she said with an uncomfortable chuckle. "The night I died," Zora said with a slight shudder. She knew she had passed over, that's what she had meant in the Infirmary when she said she wished he would have just left her, she was talking about Snape. "The night I died...the spell broke, all the spells binding me to anything broke. That's why I'm so weak; it was a spell. If it broke entirely then I might never get it back, or it could be resting and waiting to come back, I don't really know. But Draco's still bound by it, he still thinks that he loves me or whatever it is that we had...and part of him...wants...to have that baby...so it's not really good for us to be together."  
  
"That's why it was a big deal when you were studying with him on Halloween?"  
  
"Yes," she smiled slightly, tears running down her cheeks, "that's why. I'm sorry I've lied to you about this...but it's not exactly something I want the whole world to know about."  
  
"Then why are you still hanging out with him if you shouldn't... he said he knows you're here, that he saw you last night."  
  
"Because...he's my best friend. He understands me because he's part of who I am, and no spell will change that. No matter what, I will always care about him and I will always want to be with him. A horrible reason, but it's true."  
  
"So, what are you going to do? How are you going to pull that off?"  
  
"I won't," Zora smiled. "I'm just going to be stubborn and give it a try, maybe it'll work...maybe it won't."  
  
A weight was released from Zora as she spoke. She could not longer recall why she had kept this from Harry, perhaps she was afraid he would not be as accepting of her once she had told? She had changed so much from before the spells broke. She had befriended Harry as a way of keeping herself away from Draco as much as possible, but now it seemed that she truly wanted to be his friend. He didn't know what to say of course, but that was expected. She really didn't know what to say when Dumbledore told her everything at the orphanage a year earlier.  
  
"I'm sorry, I dumped a lot on you," Zora laughed and brushed at her cheeks. They were wet from her tears and she tried to control those that were still waiting to come out.  
  
"No...it's very...informative," Harry said with some thought. He looked as though he had a bad headache now. "So...he's the son of Voldemort? And you're the daughter? And you two are supposed to have a baby, who will kill me. And you're both bound to each other to think you're in love, but you broke from it when you died along with your powers. Did I get it right?"  
  
"And he's still bound by it, don't forget that," Zora added with a nod.  
  
"And he knows you're here, won't he come get you?"  
  
"No...he won't...but it seems there's more than I thought there was," she said as she ran a finger down the chain around her neck. "I'll think about that later," she sighed and rubbed her forehead, she was coming down with a head ache.  
  
"Oh," he said as he shook his head and began to dig through his pockets. He fished out the slightly melted bar of chocolate wrapped in shiny yellow paper and handed it to her. "Happy Birthday," he smiled with a shrug of his shoulders.  
  
She took the bar with a smile and placed it on her nightstand.  
  
"Don't tell anyone," she said after a pause. "It's not really something I want everyone knowing unless they have to, you know?"  
  
"I won't tell," Harry smiled and shook his head slightly.  
  
Zora smiled too because she knew not with dreams or instincts, but with sure understanding of how Harry worked that he really wouldn't tell anyone her secret. A knock erupted from the door, breaking the silence and forcing the two to jump suddenly from the surprise.  
  
"Zora," Mrs. Weasley called from behind the door, "Fred's here to see you."  
  
"Thank you, I'll be right down," Zora called back.  
  
She jumped from the bed and raced to her closet. She swiped quickly through the shirts hanging in the small space. She suddenly ripped a light color shirt from its hanger and threw it on the bed.  
  
"What are you doing?" Harry asked, ducking the flying shirt as it flew past his head.  
  
"I haven't seen him since the end of school," she replied as she carried a crumpled pair of jeans from the bottom of the closet and moved to the bed. "I'm wearing a nightgown for God's sake!"  
  
"I'll never understand girls," Harry replied, shaking his head and walking towards the door.  
  
Harry quietly closed the door behind him and continued up the staircase to the very top, Ron's room. His eyes adjusted quickly to the brilliant color as he opened the door and sat at the foot of the bed. He dug into his pocket and retrieved the stack of pictures he had developed in Diagon Alley. He began to gently flip through the smiling faces of Hermione, Ron, Ginny, the twins, and all the other Gryffindors who had been located in the common room at the time of the picture taking. There were of course the occasional few shots of torches, rugs, and ceilings from his first time taking the pictures himself. Harry chuckled occasionally and kept a smile continuously as he flipped through the many pictures.  
  
Then the very last picture came into Harry's hands. For a moment Harry just stared and racked his brain, trying to remember when he had taken it. It was lopsided he realized, perhaps it was accidental along with the ceilings and stone floors he had captured. But there were those familiar blue eyes staring back at him, the same eyes that appeared they were moments from tears. Harry wished more than ever that he had never laid eyes on that haunting portrait of Zora's mother. It had followed him throughout the halls and now it would remain in his private collection always. Of course if Harry had the will the dispose of the picture, it could be done easily. But the weight at his gut told him to keep it, it was worth more than the common waste of a trash bin. He could not explain his sudden instincts and placed the picture at the bottom of the stack and put the pictures in his schoolbag.  
  
Then Harry thought of Zora's request to see the portrait herself. Perhaps that was the feeling in his gut? He would give the picture to her of course; she would certainly have more use for it than he. But then the weight became heavier at the thought of giving it away and he suddenly thought it would be irrational and foolish to do so. Why did he want to keep it so badly?  
  
Harry shook his head as if trying to shake out all his thoughts at once. He took the stack from his bag and removed the final one. He looked at those eyes one last time before he placed it into a separate compartment, away from being confused with the other common pictures he now owned. The thought of no one being able to find the picture eased Harry's gut and a feeling of relaxation washed over him.  
  
"Harry, are you in here?" a voice called from the hallway.  
  
The red haired girl stuck her head in the door and gave Harry a smile.  
  
"Thought you'd be in here," she smiled as she entered the room.  
  
"Hallo, Ginny," Harry smiled nervously, his mind flickering momentarily to the picture. He quickly forced his mind to stop being so paranoid.  
  
"Did I interrupt something?" Ginny asked, looking questionably at Harry's expressive face.  
  
"No, I was just looking at the pictures I got developed," Harry replied.  
  
"May I see?" she asked as she sat next to him on Ron's bed.  
  
"Sure," he said as the smell of her perfume hit his nose. He couldn't remember sitting this close to her in such a long time, the very scent of her was now foreign to him.  
  
Harry leaned over and grabbed at his schoolbag which he had placed under the bed and retrieved the stack of pictures. He handed them to her and tried to remember if there had been any picture specifically he hadn't wished her to see. By the time she had taken the stack, nearly three he wished he had edited out entered his mind.  
  
"These aren't so bad," she laughed as she flipped through the pictures.  
  
Harry watched with growing embarrassment as the two of the three he wished to disappear from her eyes flashed by in her hands. One Hermione had taken of him and Ron sleeping in the common room, complete with drool and the spasms of arms and legs. The second one was of him clumsily learning to dance with Hermione, who had insisted he learn in order to cheer him up after the eventful night with Zora. All that could be seen in the picture was Harry and Hermione casually turning once, then her wincing and reaching to her feet and Harry slapping his forehead. Surely Ron was due for a beating for snapping the shot.  
  
"Aww," Ginny smiled as she gazed at the pain in Hermione's face. "This one's rather sweet."  
  
"Yeah, well," Harry began as he tried to think of something witty to say, "I never was very good at dancing...she did it at her own risk if you ask me."  
  
She gave him a smile and continued flipping and she stopped at the third picture Harry wished he had removed from the stack. He tried to look without being too obvious at her face to see if she were smiling or not. The effort proved worthless. She looked down and did not move, her long red hair covering any hint of expression. It was a picture of her and Neville in the common room talking intently to each other. She was smiling and nodding her head as he was speaking, saying something Harry could not remember. He only remembered thinking Ginny looked wonderful in the firelight and had snapped it on a whim.  
  
"When did you take this?" she asked in a small voice from behind the mass of hair/  
  
"Oh...ah," Harry said as he thought of the night, "that was probably just after the break...January I'd say."  
  
Ginny's red hair bounced slightly on her shoulders as she nodded her head. He was waiting for some reaction other than a blank stare to judge her. Was she over him yet? It had been nearly four months since the break up; surely she was feeling neutral towards him now. Or had she truly been in love with Neville and was still completely heartbroken?  
  
She let out a long sigh which ruffled the red strands of hair covering her face. She tossed the mane back from her face and behind her shoulder. She slipped the picture to the back of the stack and continued to smile at the remaining shots. No tears. No whimpering. Just smiling. Perhaps she was over Neville after all.  
  
"Not bad, Harry, but I'd say you still need a bit of practice," she chuckled as she handed the stack back to him. "Mum wanted me to tell you the party's starting soon."  
  
"Thanks," he replied as he slid the pictures into his bag. "I'll be down in a minute."  
  
Harry followed Ginny down the stairs to enter the living room. There were different colored balloons and streamers hanging from the ceiling while the walls were enchanted to have the words "Happy Birthday Zora" in changing colors appear. Harry smiled as he watched the words flash "Happy Birthday Zora"..."Happy Birthday Zora"..."Happy Birthday Harry"..."Happy Birthday Harry"...  
  
"Why does it say-," Harry began to ask with a laugh when Mrs. Weasley brought out a white iced cake followed by Mr. Weasley carrying another cake. Zora walked across the room with a big bright smile embedded on her face.  
  
"They told me it was for you," she laughed.  
  
"And they told me it was for you," Harry replied.  
  
Mrs. Weasley stood before Harry. He looked down and saw his name written in red icing on top of the cake. It was his second birthday cake ever if you counted the one Hagrid brought him but Dudley ate.  
  
"Happy Birthday, you two," Mrs. Weasley smiled. She took her wand from her pocket and with a swish and flick, both cakes were inflamed.  
  
"Make it a good wish," Mr. Weasley nodded as he stood before Zora.  
  
Harry's eyes trailed over to the other side of the room where Ginny was standing next to Hermione and watching he and Zora with a bright smile. He turned back to the cake and blew at the fire as hard as he could. He saw Zora out of the corner of his eye as she blew out her own flames at the same time. The room fell dark from the absence of the fire. Once the light was restored, the party continued with dinner and idle chatter in the living room.  
  
For once it seemed there was nothing to worry about. Harry and Zora were simply two everyday teenagers celebrating a birthday surrounded by friends. Joking and laughing and not caring about tomorrow. A release. A happy moment that would live in their memories forever.  
  
It wasn't until Zora looked out of the living room window that reality returned to her.  
  
"I think I need some air," she smiled to everyone around her.  
  
"I'll walk you out," Fred smiled, "I need to head back to the store anyway."  
  
Without the heart to turn him down, Zora nodded her head with a smile and walked out the door. She would just have to keep his view away from the trees in the garden and away from the fair haired boy who was staring through the window.  
  
"Thank you for the bracelet," Zora smiled once the door had closed behind them. She quickly glanced over to the garden and watched as Draco disappeared behind a tree. He wasn't completely stupid after all.  
  
"I thought you would like it," Fred said as he returned her smile.  
  
Zora played with the silver clasp of the bracelet on her wrist as she tried to think of the next thing to say. She always got so nervous when she was alone with Fred nowadays. She racked her brain and reminded herself not to say anything stupid...when he kissed her. It was over immediately, but it made Zora dizzy all the same. 


	6. Chapter 6

It wasn't until Zora looked out of the living room window that reality returned to her.  
  
"I think I need some air," she smiled to everyone around her.  
  
"I'll walk you out," Fred smiled, "I need to head back to the store anyway."  
  
Without the heart to turn him down, Zora nodded her head with a smile and walked out the door. She would just have to keep his view away from the trees in the garden and away from the fair haired boy who was staring through the window.  
  
"Thank you for the bracelet," Zora smiled once the door had closed behind them. She quickly glanced over to the garden and watched as Draco disappeared behind a tree. He wasn't completely stupid after all.  
  
"I thought you would like it," Fred said as he returned her smile.  
  
Zora played with the silver clasp of the bracelet on her wrist as she tried to think of the next thing to say. She always got so nervous when she was alone with Fred nowadays. She racked her brain and reminded herself not to say anything stupid...when he kissed her. It was over immediately, but it made Zora dizzy all the same.  
  
"I'm sorry," said as he pulled away and took a step back, "I didn't mean to...it won't happen again, I promise."  
  
"Oh...well, no need to promise that," she said desperately as she covered his step away by taking one forward of her own. The words poured out before she could even think of them So much for not saying anything stupid, Zora she thought to herself.  
  
"What's that?" Fred inquired, his eyes on her neck.  
  
Zora looked down and saw that she was fiddling with the silver chain around her neck. She wondered how long she had been playing with it, she couldn't remember raising her hand to it or feeling the metal in her fingers.  
  
"Oh, this? It's nothing," she replied nervously as she tried her best to tuck it in her clothing.  
  
"It looks expensive," he commented, "let me see."  
  
His fingers were at her collarbone, feeling for the fine chain. She took in a sharp breath when he touched her and was grateful he was too distracted by the chain to notice her embarrassing reactions.  
  
The charm fell out with the long chain and hung just over her heart. The diamonds gleamed brightly in the fading sunlight, tiny reflections glittering across his pale freckled face. Fred just stared.  
  
"Where did you get it?" he asked not taking his eyes from the sparkling snake.  
  
Zora thought hard for an excuse. He wouldn't believe Harry had given it to her and he wouldn't buy that she had bought it herself. She could claim Dumbledore, but he wouldn't believe that or that Severus had given it to her just before he left. There was no explanation other than the truth. In her heart, she didn't really want to lie to Fred anyway.  
  
"It's from Draco," she replied with a painful sigh.  
  
His eyes shot up from the charm to meet her own. His eyes seemed to be filled with some sort of pain and hurt she had never seen in him before.  
  
"Why would Malfoy give this to you?" he asked as she noticed that parts of his cheeks were turning red again.  
  
"I...I honestly don't know," she lied, forgetting that she wanted to tell him the truth. She decided to protect him instead and continued the lie, "he was my tutor in the year. I'm surprised he even remembered it was my birthday. I'm sure he had ample money lying around and just wanted to show it off...it means nothing to me. I only wore it so I could tell him honestly I had worn it once so that he wouldn't be angry."  
  
"It's awfully gaudy," he commented with a smile as the scorching color receded from his face. "It's blinding me, put it away," he added with a laugh.  
  
"I know...awful isn't it?" she smiled as she tucked the charm back into her clothes.  
  
"Well, I'd really better get going, need to close up the shop. Maybe...I could come by and see you tomorrow?"  
  
"Maybe," she teased.  
  
"I'll see you then," he returned her smile.  
  
He took a step back to go, but stopped himself. He returned to her and gently pecked her cheek before turning to leave.  
  
She had a wonderfully lightheaded feeling before she felt the weight of the charm around her neck bring her back to earth. She turned and stormed to the garden.  
  
"What are you doing here?" Zora asked, completely outraged by Draco's arrogance. "It's still daylight! Mrs. Weasley can see you...you have to leave!"  
  
"I don't care if the old bat sees me or not," Draco replied, his lip curling in a distasteful way.  
  
"Well, I care," Zora replied, placing her hands on her hips. "And don't you dare call her an 'old bat' again or-."  
  
"Or what? You'll have a row with me?" Draco asked with sickening sarcasm. "Let me remind you, dear, that you'd lose a battle to a toddler...what could you possibly do to me?"  
  
"And you wonder why I'm not with you," Zora replied, trying her best to conceal her heartbreak. His words were harsh, as if she were Harry or a Weasley to him. This harshness was not common from Draco towards her. What was going on?  
  
"It's because you're a coward," Draco went on, "you're afraid of what Snape and the others will think if we're together."  
  
"No...I don't care what anyone thinks, I care what I think: I think it's a bad idea. And we can't be having this conversation yet again, we've had it a million times before!"  
  
"Actually, this is only the fifth," he corrected her.  
  
"Do I care? No! If we get together, Draco...if we get married, then...then everything turns to crap, and I do mean everything. I can't do that...and I can't let you do that either," Zora added as her voice calmed. She hated how she could be yelling and completely enraged one moment and then find herself calm and relaxed the next with Draco. She wished she could stay consistent until he left, and then she could hate him without interruption or sympathy.  
  
"So then tell me...look me in the eye and say you don't love me," Draco said after a pause.  
  
Zora took a step closer to Draco and looked into his gray eyes. They were cloudy, as if a storm were brewing inside his mind. She took in a deep sigh and realized how much she wanted those eyes to be brown, the eye color she was becoming to love more and more each day. She glanced up to his hair, the delicate white blonde slicked carefully back as it always was and wished that would change to the fiery red that made her heart jump nearly each time she recognized it.  
  
"Say you don't love me," his voice sounded in her ears, "and I'll leave you alone."  
  
She trailed back to his cold stone eyes and said, "I'm not in love with you."  
  
"How can you just say that?" he whined like a toddler not getting his way.  
  
"Because it's true," she replied softly.  
  
"Is this...is this really what you want?" he asked after a long painful pause.  
  
"Yes...I want to end this, it's the only way," she replied, a knot developing in her throat.  
  
"If it'll make you happy...really happy...then I will stay away," he replied as his eyes drifted to the ground.  
  
It was so rare to see the great Draco Malfoy hurt and pained. The sight nearly made Zora's eyes boil over with her tears, but she knew it was for the best. She would go to sleep knowing he would not be at her window and she would awaken guilt free for not speaking with him. She knew that this was exactly what she wanted...but that didn't mean it still didn't hurt her.  
  
"I'm sorry," she whispered so low that she wasn't even sure he'd heard. "I will miss you...but until an antidote or spell retractor is found...this is how it has to be."  
  
He nodded, not taking his eyes from the green grass beneath his expensive black boots.  
  
"May I ask for a proper farewell?" he said, raising his eyes finally to hers for a moment.  
  
"Of course," she smiled at his formalness.  
  
She opened her arms wide and allowed him to hold her tightly for as long as he wanted, it was after all the last time he would do this. His arms tightened around her waist and his head rested next to hers. He pressed his palms against her back, trying to get her as close to him as possible, so hard that she was sure there would be bruises the next morning. After what seemed like hours, she finally felt his arms ease from around her a little. Seeing this as a sign he was ready to leave, she began to pull away. He caught her immediately before she could step away from him and pressed his lips against hers. A paralyzing shock ran through her body and she felt her knees become weak, just as she had experienced on Halloween night the year before, just as she was programmed to feel each time he kissed her. This thought of her destiny and programming came all too late, for she was kissing him back as soon as his lips touched hers.  
  
The tears were spilling down her cheeks now and her arms were around his neck. No thought of consequence or of wrong doing had entered her mind; all she could think of was how right it felt to kiss Draco.  
  
"What the bloody hell?" a loud voice broke into Zora's mind.  
  
She regained herself and quickly pulled away from Draco's mouth and turned her head to see who was speaking. Ron was standing a few yards away, but Zora could see clearly that his neck, face, and ears were all turning a scorching shade of bright red. Her heart began to pound as guilt and regret caught up with her.  
  
"You...and...Malfoy? You're dating my brother, you tart!" he exclaimed wildly.  
  
Fred's face flashed over Zora's eyes and the weight of regret was suddenly becoming more and more and more as she struggled to remain standing. She damned herself with the increasing weight as tears began to fill her eyes again.  
  
"Ron, please!" she said with escaping tears as she finally released herself from Draco's arms. She made an attempt at walking towards him, trying to think of an excuse or a logical reason to explain herself, but none came to mind. Before she took a third step, Ron had turned and was running towards the house, nothing but a completely red flash as he went.  
  
Zora's breathing was heavy with the emotional weights dragging at her entire body. She summoned her strength and turned to Draco...she had to release some of her emotion before she completely collapsed.  
  
"What...why did you do that?" she asked as she walked towards him and brushed cruelly at her damp cheeks.  
  
He folded his arms and just looked at her coldly.  
  
"You knew he was there...you knew he would see!" she went on hysterically. "Why must you try to ruin everything? What part of that conniving Slytherin head of yours could ever think that I would be happy with you? You made me miserable even when I thought I loved you and now it's even worse! You could never make me happy, Draco! Never! I hate you and no, I'm not being an emotional teenage girl...I mean I REALLY hate you, almost as much as I hate Voldemort, almost. If you come near me ever again, I will kill you...I swear it."  
  
"You wouldn't kill me," he replied with a small shake of his head.  
  
"Only one way to find out...do you really want to risk it?" Zora said as harshly as she could. "Stay away from me," she added as the anger only intensified inside of her.  
  
Zora turned quickly and walked back to the house, her head pounding with anger as she walked. She had wished that she could keep one emotion towards Draco; it was possible she would succeed this time.  
  
Her head rested on the pillow but her eyes were far from closing. She stared at the blank wall next to her bed, thinking of a way to get herself out of this mess. She silently swore against her mother for taking the spell, against Voldemort for her entire life, against her professors for taking her away and teaching her all she knew, against Severus especially for not leaving her alone in the Infirmary. She swore against every person she had met and wished she could go back one year to the day and take it all back.  
  
But she couldn't. She was lying in this bed, looking at this wall, and still wondering if she could have done anything to prevent this from happening. She was not crying anymore only because it was not possible; she was too weak to continue her tears. Her heart had calmed down and her body was relaxed merely because it was too exhausted from throwing her clothes all over her room for a few hours to do anything but lie in bed.  
  
She heard the window open slowly behind her, but did not move to see who it was. His smell filled the room immediately and her stomach turned at the stench she had once loved so much. The mattress squeaked beneath her as he sat on the bed. She still did not move, perhaps if she pretended to be asleep he would leave her alone? She rolled her eyes momentarily at herself for thinking this as he eased down and lied next to her.  
  
He did not touch her, although she knew he wanted to. They lied in silence for nearly ten minutes before he finally spoke.  
  
"Not going to even try to kill me?" he asked.   
  
"I'm too damned tired," she replied shortly, hoping he would just leave her.  
  
"I'm sorry," he whispered, his quiet voice sounding ten times its actual intensity.  
  
She rolled smoothly on her side to face him. His eyes were the same color gray, but filled with honest sorrow and regret, much like she imagined her own blue eyes were appearing. Her sorrow was from the action itself, his were from the repercussions she was experiencing.  
  
"I know," she whispered back.  
  
There was a feeling deep in her stomach as she looked into his eyes. A feeling so well hidden she had convinced herself it had left her body. A feeling she had not acknowledged for him in so many months. A feeling not even death could kill inside of her.  
  
"Has Ron told Fred?" he asked after a hard swallow.  
  
"He sent Pig a few hours ago, he hasn't flown back yet...but Pig was heading towards Diagon Alley."  
  
"I didn't mean for you to get hurt," he replied. All pride and shame had left his face, he was sincere and weak. She knew he would regret this meeting later.  
  
"I know you didn't...shit happens," she added with an attempt to make him smile. He didn't...he never smiled when he was happy anyway. "Part of me...part of me wishes it was like it was before, that we could be married, that we could have the life we're supposed to have, that we could be happy together. But it's a very small part...and I have to listen to the rest of me. It would never work...there's too much going against it for it to be right."  
  
"I know...I know," Draco replied.  
  
"No...you don't," she replied with a smile. "You won't know till it breaks how wrong it really is."  
  
"What if it never breaks?" Draco asked mournfully.  
  
"Then be thankful you never have to be this damned confused about it," Zora replied.  
  
He nodded although she knew he couldn't understand yet, he was still blind to reality. She was thankful he was at least attempting to be understanding. He let out an exhale so deep that it ruffled the loose black hair in her face back behind her head.  
  
"You should probably take this too," Zora said with a sigh as she withdrew the sparkling jewel from her nightgown.  
  
"No...you keep it," Draco replied as he shook his head.  
  
"I know about the charms on it," Zora replied, "take it off, I know you're the only one who can."  
  
Draco's eyes went to the rocking chair in the corner of the room, trying his best to avoid her gaze. With a defeated sigh he sat up in the bed, the mattress squeaking beneath him as he moved. She pushed her self up from the mattress and turned herself towards the wall. She gathered her hair above her neck and waited for him to unlatch it. He whispered some Latin spell under his breathe and took the clasp in his hand. She concentrated on the picture of Fred's face in her mind as his fingers grazed her skin. She breathed deeply, waiting for his touch to leave her skin.  
  
The two ends of the chain collapsed and she caught the diamond snake in her hand. It shone brightly even in the dark room and she wondered if he had charmed it to do that as well or if the jewel was simply that expensive. She wouldn't have been surprised either way. She tucked the chain in her hand and turned to face Draco. She took his hand and placed it in his palm and closed his fingers around it.  
  
"I do love you...and I'm really going to leave you," he said as he gazed at the jewel in his hand.  
  
"Thank you," she replied quietly.  
  
He bent his head and kissed her cheek lightly. He lingered next to her face for a moment before withdrawing himself and sliding out of the bed. He did not take his eyes from hers until he was at the window. He turned back as if he were going to say something, but stopped himself. He gave her one last sorrowful look before slipping out of the window and disappearing into the night.  
  
Zora laid her back on the bed and turned away from the window and finally shut her eyes tightly, willing once again for everything to simply disappear. She was stunned to find that when she opened them again, she saw nothing but complete black. Panic rose in her heart as she quickly fell into a deep sleep, the sounds of men's voices fading into the back of her head. 


	7. Chapter 7

Zora laid her back on the bed and turned away from the window and finally shut her eyes tightly, willing once again for everything to simply disappear. She was stunned to find that when she opened them again, she saw nothing but complete black. Panic rose in her heart as she quickly fell into a deep sleep, the sounds of men's voices fading into the back of her head.  
  
Harry awoke suddenly in Ron's bedroom and darted his eyes around. He sighed heavily at the annoyance of not sleeping well. He was worried about Zora. Ron had rushed inside the house and up to his room without a word to anyone. Hermione, Ginny, and he had followed him to see what was wrong. Shortly after that, Zora had snuck into the deserted living room was and refused to come out of her room and even refused to speak to Harry.  
  
Harry wondered for literally hours that night how she could have kissed Draco. She hated him and she was constantly saying how much she wanted to stay away from him. Everything she had told him about Draco was evidence enough that she should stay clear of him, and she obviously knew that! Why would she go around kissing him when she had been excited about spending time with Fred as well? Something wasn't right.  
  
It didn't help at all the theories emanating from his friends as the four of them sat in Ron's bedroom as Pig was sent to Diagon Alley. Harry had tried to keep Ron from sending the letter and had tried his best to stick up for Zora. He couldn't recall a time when he received more confused looks from his friends and thought it best just to keep his mouth shut before he spilled more details of Zora's past.  
  
He fumbled slightly as he reached for his glasses and placed them over his eyes. The blurs and streams of colors turned into walls and posters and a boy sitting at the window. Harry looked again and saw that the horrible sight of Draco Malfoy was in Ron's bedroom.  
  
"Bout time you woke up," Draco sneered unpleasantly from the window.  
  
"What...how...why..." Harry mumbled, caught off guard by Draco's presence in the room.  
  
"Think of a complete sentence, and then attempt to talk," Draco replied in his superior drawl.  
  
"Why are you here?" Harry asked strongly. "You've done enough damage as is."  
  
"Harry," Ron stirred from the bed. He sat up and rubbed his eyes with the back of his hands and said, "Who in the world are you talking to?"  
  
"Nice pajamas, Weasley...always sleep in fire engines? I see they haven't managed to put out that mess on top your head."  
  
"Malfoy!" Ron said as he lunged at Draco.  
  
Harry quickly went to his side and fiercely held him back. "Let me go..." Ron was saying as he struggled against Harry. "Let me at the bastard!"  
  
"We can do this all night if you like, but I wouldn't recommend it."  
  
After a few failed attempts to strangle Draco from six feet away, Ron finally regained himself and sat back on the bed. However, he did not remove his harsh stare from Draco's eyes.  
  
"Why are you here, Malfoy?" Harry spat with a glare once he was sure Ron was calm enough to be left alone for a moment.  
  
"Unfortunately, I need your help," Draco replied as he gave a hesitating look to Harry. He was asking for help and it was obvious he didn't want to.  
  
"Why would we help you?" Ron sneered.  
  
"Because...you'll want to," Draco said casually. "If you don't believe what I'm about to say you may verify for yourselves. Zora's gone."  
  
"Good riddance, sure you two will be happy together," Ron replied.  
  
"I don't believe you grasp what I'm saying...she's gone. As in...not here...as in another place."  
  
"I grasped that," Ron sneered.  
  
Draco appeared to be getting annoyed for a moment, his nostrils flaring slightly.  
  
"Where is she?" Harry asked quickly, worry filling his heart.  
  
"The Dark Lord's castle," Draco replied.  
  
"What?!" Harry asked, feeling his eyes growing wider and wider.  
  
"He's taken her. They followed me here when I visited...they've taken her to the castle."  
  
"You led them here?" Ron said as red tints spread about his face and neck. "Into my house? With my mother and sister only doors away?" Ron said as he stood from the bed.  
  
"Are Mrs. Weasley and Ginny all right?" Harry asked immediately.  
  
He had a sudden urge to ask although he couldn't explain why. Draco seemed somehow relieved at the question and Ron took a step away to wait for the answer.  
  
"They took Ginny as well," Draco replied.  
  
"My...my sister?" Ron mumbled, broken hearted.  
  
"So...are you going to help me or not?" Draco asked coldly.  
  
Ron burst out of the room and ran down the many stairs. Harry was quick behind him, Draco trailing nonchalantly behind them. Ron tore open Zora's door first. The room was completely trashed, clothes spread all over the floor. Her bedspread was wound up in a ball at one end of the bed and the window was wide open. Harry wanted to enter the room, to look under the bed and in the closet. It was a cruel joke...that was all. She was hiding from them, she had to be.  
  
But Ron could not wait; he pushed his body violently from the sight and forced himself back up the stairs to the third landing...to Ginny's door. Draco was waiting for the two, leaning casually against the door frame and examining his nails. Ron gave him an angry growl before throwing the door open. Ginny's bed was the same as Zora's and the window was thrown wide as well. Harry took a step inside and examined the state of the room. He could see pulls at the sheet and a few tears throughout the material. She had fought whoever had taken her, for that Harry was glad. However, it did not ease the fact that she had still been taken.  
  
"How can you stand there...and be so calm?" Ron asked Draco.  
  
Harry turned and found that his friend was not enflamed as he normally would be, but was instead a ghostly shade of white. He was shaking as he stared at the open window.  
  
"Because I know you'll help me," Draco replied.  
  
"How do we know we can trust you?" Harry asked, trying his best to not lose control.  
  
"You don't," he replied honestly. "I know where they are...I might know how to get them out....but I can't do it alone."  
  
Harry judged him for a moment. He was telling the truth, Harry knew that plainly. He couldn't be trusted, but he did know where the girls were. Besides, he was in love with Zora...he wouldn't risk her life. But what if he was using them to free Zora and leave Ginny? Perhaps that was a risk they would have to take.  
  
"All right," Ron said just before Harry was to say the same thing. "On one condition...you promise me my sister will get out of this."  
  
"I can't," Draco replied.  
  
"Have you dreamt this?" Harry asked immediately.  
  
Draco seemed taken aback for a moment and looked questionably at him. His face softened, or hardened rather for Draco, before he replied, "Talking with Zora, I suppose? Yes, I have...I've dreamed four different endings. There's no telling what will happen for sure."  
  
"That's not good enough," Harry replied.  
  
"What if I promise I can keep her alive until midnight? Plenty of time to retrieve her...it's ten o'clock now."  
  
Ron looked at Draco with shock still overpowering his eyes. His face was sill pale and even his freckles seems to turn white.  
  
"It'll have to do," he said and walked out the bedroom door.  
  
Harry heard the heavy footsteps thudding on the stairs and he turned to Draco. He stood just outside the door, waiting patiently and looking bored.  
  
"Someone's going to die tonight," Harry said absently once he was sure Ron was far enough away not to hear, "aren't they?"  
  
Draco did not look surprised by this statement although it terrified Harry.  
  
"We'll just have to see, won't we?" Draco said coldly as he left Ginny's room.  
  
Harry looked once more to Ginny's torn sheets. He hated this...absolutely hated it. What would he want with her? She'd never done anything wrong...why Ginny Weasley?  
  
The three boys stood outside. Harry and Ron had dressed so quickly they did not match at all, although it was not important to any of them how they appeared. At least not to Ron and Harry. Harry gave a look to Draco who was dressed in all black and had his hair slicked back as usual. He looked as though he had spent hours on his appearance at the very least. Harry ran a hand through his hair, standing almost straight up, and mounted his broom. His bag was weighted at his side with his cloak among the other miscellaneous items he hadn't bothered to remove from the school year.  
  
"Just follow me...and try not to be seen," Draco said warningly as he mounted his broom and pushed off the grass.  
  
Harry and Ron were soon up in the air, flying high above the clouds. The white puffs were so closely joined together that Harry could see not evidence of cities or lights below their dangling feet as they raced at top speed. Ron was struggling to keep up behind Harry's Firebolt and Draco's newest broom advancement. Harry believed it was Ron himself who was forcing his broom to go faster and faster rather than any spell cast on the broom itself.  
  
"Where are we going?" Harry called up to Draco.  
  
They had turned several times and Harry was worried they were lost for a moment.  
  
"Just trust me," Draco called back impatiently.  
  
"You do remember you're a Malfoy right...you should be careful with the word 'trust'," Harry retorted.  
  
If Harry hadn't known better...he would think Draco was deliberately taking these turns above the locked clouds to keep Harry and Ron from being able to find their way to or away from the castle.  
  
"Few more minutes," Draco said as he took a sharp left turn and darted forward. "Weasley still dragging?"  
  
"Just worry about where we're going why don't you?" Harry sneered, but looked over his shoulder just to be sure Ron was still with them.  
  
"Ready?" Draco asked as he stopped suddenly.  
  
Harry pulled hard on his broom to stop it from plowing into the back of Draco's head, no use doing that now that they were relying on him to get the girls out of trouble. Ron however wasn't so lucky and turned his broom only in time for the back straw to plow into Harry's face, nearly knocking him off his broom.  
  
"Stop clowning around, you idiots," Draco sneered. "Ready?"  
  
"For what?" Ron asked, but Draco had already taken off.  
  
He dove straight down through the clouds towards the earth below. Harry gave Ron a shrug and quickly followed his lead, Ron joined moments later. They dove into a completely vertical position, the wind whipping harshly at Harry's face, burning his eyes. Just before they collided with the ground, the two pulled quickly up and stopped a few feet from the ground below.  
  
Harry dismounted from his broom and found it hard to stand, his body had grown accustomed to the fast pace of his broomstick and was having trouble becoming reacquainted with standing still. Ron seemed to be having a similar problem, his hands were cupping his knees and his face had a tint of green to it.  
  
"Idiots!" the familiar drawling voice called to them.  
  
They staggered as they followed the sound of the voice and Harry remembered with some distaste what Zora had said about Draco's strength. He hadn't believed it was true until now as he looked at Draco. After such a wild and exhausting ride, Draco simply looked as though he had just walked from one room to another.  
  
Draco crouched down near the ground and pressed his back against the wall of the tall castle. Harry and Ron did their best to follow his lead, but their way was far less graceful than Draco's. Draco finally stood straight up and gave a glance around the area. He walked casually to a wooden door in the wall and reached for the knob.  
  
"We're just going to walk in?" Ron asked suddenly.  
  
"You have a better idea?" Draco asked, as if insulted by his questioning. "We could scale the wall...but you wouldn't make it past the first story."  
  
"And you would?" Ron said defensively.  
  
"Honestly, Potter, why don't you fill in your friends on all your knowledge...they might learn something," Draco sneered as he pushed the door open with a quiet creak and entered the castle.  
  
"Do we have a choice?" Ron asked.  
  
"Not really," Harry replied with a shrug.  
  
"Can we trust him?"  
  
"Not really," Harry replied.  
  
"Don't you ever get tired of doing that?" Ron asked suddenly.  
  
"Not really," Harry smiled momentarily before entering the darkness behind the door.  
  
They caught up with Draco a few steps ahead and followed him through the winding halls, imitating each crouch and sudden stop and momentary sharp intake of breath Draco made. Once they were what appeared to be rather deep into the castle, Draco stopped and turned to the two boys behind him.  
  
"Weasley," Draco said, "go to that door over there...the third from here."  
  
"Why?" Ron asked.  
  
"Because if you want to see your sister alive...you have to do as I say," Draco replied, intolerance growing in his eyes.  
  
"How do I know you're not tricking me? A trap!"  
  
"Shh!!" Draco hissed and closed his eyes tightly in agitation. "If I really wanted you dead or trapped, I would've done it on the dive down into the bottomless pit, or lead you down to the dragon's lair, or turned you loose in the garden of grindylows...if I wanted you dead, you would be so now. So...go into that room and do not come out until eleven, understand?"  
  
"Here," Harry said and removed his wristwatch, "take mine."  
  
Ron gave a nod and gave an appreciating smile to Harry.  
  
"Wait a sec," Draco intervened. He grabbed at the bag at Harry's side and rustled through it. He removed the Invisibility cloak, a few bottles of elixirs leftover from Potions class, Harry's pen knife, and a few nameless items Harry had forgotten from the end of term. Draco crossed over and dumped the items into Ron's arms. "Keep these, Weasley," he hissed before turning back and walking to Harry's side. "At 11:30, go to that door and open it. It latches from the outside so you should be able to get in," Draco added as he pointed to a door across the corridor from the door Ron was being asked to go in.  
  
Ron looked at the items placed roughly in his arms and walked over to the room. He gave an unsure look back at Draco before he opened the door and stepped inside.  
  
"Ok, now you...come with me," Draco said coldly as he continued to walk.  
  
Harry wondered whether he preferred being called "you" or "Potter" as he followed. It was just after this thought passed his mind that he noticed Draco was no longer crouching down as he slid down the halls. Now the heels of his boots were echoing loudly against the marble walls. Harry was about to comment on his irresponsibility when he entered a room and received a blow to the back of his head.  
  
A flash of painful light burst before his eyes as he struggled to keep them open. He saw that many people adorned in black cloaks and hoods had surrounded his limp body. Between two of the Death Eaters, Harry caught a glimpse of Draco standing a few steps away...he was smiling.  
  
Zora lie in her bed, surrounded by emerald green sheets and her long black hair. She turned her head and looked to the open window, a warm summer breeze poured in, rustling the sheer silver colored curtains of the bedroom. She smiled at the luxury she was surrounded by, hoping that it could always stay this way.  
  
She recognized a soft padding sound and a quiet whispering. She sat up in the bed and gazed across the sea of green stretching to the foot of the bed. The shirtless blonde boy stood just at the foot of the bed with his back to her. She smiled and crawled across the large bed to his side. She ran her hands across his back and up to his shoulders, gently kissing between his shoulder blades.  
  
"I didn't mean to wake you," he said in his cold voice.  
  
She smiled and walked around him, her silk nightgown flowing gracefully around her body. She saw the bundle of blankets in his arms. He lowered it to her height and she peered at the baby in his arms, resting her head on his upper arm as she admired her work. The eyes were closed, but she knew their blue by heart and the little blonde strands on top of his head. His skin was smooth and snow white from his head to his tiny toes. She looked back up to Draco's cold grey eyes and simply gazed admirably into their storms.  
  
"I love you," she smiled dreamily.  
  
He did not return her smile, only replied, "I love you too, darling."  
  
There was no warmth in his voice, but it was one of the things she adored about him. He was void of emotion and completely cold to everyone, but only she could bring emotion out of him in the dark, while no one else is watching.  
  
He crossed away from her and placed the baby in its basinet in the corner of the room. She watched him gently lay his son down as she turned the ring on her left hand around and around, a habit she had picked up since their marriage. He turned back to her and walked quickly to the bed. His hands were in her hair and his lips with kissing her neck. She smiled as they fell back into the soft green sea.  
  
"How are we going to do this next year?" she laughed as she clutched at his bare back. "Separate rooms."  
  
"Like everyone else...we'll find a way," he replied from her neck just before he bit down on her flesh, marking her as his possession.  
  
"I guess not many seventh year students are married, are they?" she smiled as the pain of his teeth made her heart jump.  
  
"Guess not...we're making history," he replied as his mouth traveled to her lips.  
  
She felt his hand reaching under her nightgown, the touch making her shiver.  
  
"I love you...I love you...I love you," she whispered over and over again, the echo sounding louder and louder in her mind.  
  
Zora opened her burning eyes slowly and she looked around her. Her heart was pounding loudly and a thin layer of sweat covered her forehead and the back of her neck. She shamefully wiped them away and forced herself to calm down. She reached to her neck and swore that she could still feel the tenderness where he had bitten her.  
  
After a few minutes of concentrated focusing, Zora recognized that marble walls and took in where she was. The castle. It seemed her stomach fell out from under her; would she never escape this place? She pushed herself up weakly from the marble floor but found she could not rise very far. She was chained to the floor with thick metal links.  
  
She tried to remember how she had gotten here. Draco had visited her...and then everything went black and she fell asleep. She remembered the smell of his cologne and the color of his cold eyes, but nothing about her abductor. She thought slowly to herself...Draco was the kidnapper.  
  
She took in further inspection of her surroundings and noted two hooded creatures in the corners of the rooms. They did not speak or appear to breathe, but stood motionless as if statues. Zora was beginning to think they were decoys to frighten her, but when the wooden door creaked open, they both turned to greet the new comer.  
  
Zora could not help but give a hateful glare and was both thankful and regretful of the chains wrapped around her wrists. It was a crime to kill someone...but damn it would feel good to kill him.  
  
"Sleep well? Any nice dreams?" he smirked as his gray eyes looked into hers.  
  
"Bastard," she muttered out angrily.  
  
"Come now," he continued to smile. "You can do better than that."  
  
"And you wonder why we're not together," she sneered.  
  
Draco chuckled and shook his head, a strand of his blonde hair falling in his eyes. He quickly ran his fingers through his hair and the strand was replaced in its perfect spot. He crouched down very close to her face and squatted there staring at her. She wanted to spit in his face, but her mouth was so dry from fear or from the after effects of whatever spell he had knocked her out with, she could not fulfill her desire.  
  
She did not turn from his eyes. Their intensity was blinding but to turn showed weakness. She kept them locked with all her strength until he forced them to break with a sharp blow across her cheek. At first she thought she had imagined it, but the throbbing sting soon traveled across her face. She ground her teeth together and forced herself not to make a sound or cry although she was dieing to.  
  
"Leave us," he sneered to the creatures guarding her.  
  
The hooded men nodded and left through the wooden door, closing it sharply behind them. 


	8. Chapter 8

She did not turn from his eyes. Their intensity was blinding but to turn showed weakness. She kept them locked with all her strength until he forced them to break with a sharp blow across her cheek. At first she thought she had imagined it, but the throbbing sting soon traveled across her face. She ground her teeth together and forced herself not to make a sound or cry although she was dying to.  
  
"Leave us," he sneered to the creatures guarding her.  
  
The hooded men nodded and left through the wooden door, closing it sharply behind them.  
  
"Êtes-vous bien ?" Draco asked.  
  
"English!" Zora burst out loud. "I will not speak a language I didn't learn from a book! Speak English, you stupid asshole!"  
  
"Are you...all right?" he asked, his voice soaked in concern. "Did it hurt?"  
  
"No," she lied angrily, "it didn't hurt."  
  
His face looked broken as it had in her bedroom. She refused to fall for his display and kept her anger and hatred towards him.  
  
"I...I had to do that, or else they wouldn't leave," Draco carried on. "I'm sorry. For all of this...I'm sorry."  
  
"Yeah...I believe that," she scoffed as she rolled her eyes.  
  
"Well, you should! This isn't exactly easy, you know? Trying to help you and pretend to be helping him. It's no walk in the park. I'd like to see you try it some time."  
  
"No thanks...I prefer denying from the start...it saves trouble."  
  
"It's not that simple. I can't deny him...it's all I have, I will lose everything."  
  
"Then accept failure, you idiot!" she shouted angrily.  
  
"Look, I know you're angry with me, but you have to realize there really was no other way," he said after a calming breath. "You can trust me," he added hopefully.  
  
"Oh, yeah," she said sarcastically as she shook the chains at her arms, the jingling echoing through the small cell. "I can see that."  
  
"What will it take for me to convince you?"  
  
"Explain...why am I here? What's going to happen? Why didn't you tell me before?"  
  
"I...can't...tell you," he replied carefully.  
  
"What do you mean you can't? You just said...oh! You're bound aren't you?" she said when it hit her like a ton of bricks.  
  
"Thank Merlin!" he exclaimed happily. "At least one of you know how Dark Magic works!"  
  
"One of who? Someone else is here?" she asked as her heart began to pound.  
  
"Harry and Ron," Draco replied hesitantly.  
  
"Are they all right?" she asked as her heart rate sped up a bit.  
  
"Not exactly...Harry's been taken, it was part of the deal. I had to lead you all here. They don't know Ron's here though, not yet anyway."  
  
"Why do they want Harry...tell me the whole story, I just asked you to tell me and that means you can tell me everything."  
  
"All right," Draco began with a deep breath, "in order for the Dark Lord to come back to his full power, he made a deal with every dark creature he could in exchange for those powers. He has repaid all his debts, but one. He happened upon a group of demons at one point who made the final deal which has given him more power than ever before. In exchange for his power, he would give them the fatal blood of one of the Slytherin line."  
  
"That's us, right?" Zora asked.  
  
"Yes...and Harry too," Draco replied.  
  
"Harry?! You can't be serious!" she said in disbelief.  
  
"He's distant...extremely distant, probably a one night stand somewhere in that late 1700's but-"  
  
"Draco! Unimportant!" Zora interrupted.  
  
"Oh...right. Anyhow, the blood's still there. A few of the Death Eaters can be traced as distantly as Harry. Anyone of us can take the place....but I'm pretty sure the Dark Lord would prefer to be rid of his...enemies...first. But blood must be spilt before dawn, or else all of us will drop dead."  
  
"All of us? Well, that's a bit harsh isn't it?" Zora replied. "If one of us has to go...it's better if it's you or me. After tonight really, there doesn't seem much else for us. We're definitely not having that baby, and I have no interest in taking over the world, but Harry has more to do."  
  
"So you're still set on that baby issue?" Draco inquired stubbornly.  
  
"Dye your hair red...then we'll talk," Zora found herself smiling, the weight of the situation momentarily lifting.  
  
"I can work on that," he smiled back.  
  
"Promise me..." she began after a long pause, regaining the seriousness of the situation once more, "that if it comes down to the two of you, he'll get out all right?"  
  
"Promise? That's a lot to ask for," he replied with a sigh.  
  
"No...it's just enough. I honestly don't care which or even both of us die...as long as he gets out, I'll die happy."  
  
"Then I promise...he'll get out," Draco said reluctantly.  
  
Zora gave him a bright smile and a whispered "Thank you" as she felt a great lift release from her heart. She had Draco's word, and knew that bound him to his promise and Harry would make it out of this castle alive.  
  
"So, how's it going to happen?" she asked after a pause.  
  
"That I really can't tell you, some things are more closely guarded than others," Draco explained sadly.  
  
"I guess I'll find out soon enough," she replied with a shrug.  
  
"I must go...things to be done and destroyed. I'll see you just before midnight if all goes well," Draco replied.  
  
He leaned forward and kissed her cheek before rising from his knees and walking gracefully to the door. Zora didn't have time to accept or reject the tender affection, but was caught up in sudden worry. What did he mean "if all goes well"? That meant he had some sort of plan, one which he didn't share with her. Why? Didn't he trust her? Wasn't he the one who had betrayed her and her friends? She felt she deserved a little more than a kiss on the cheek and a simple promise that everything would turn out all right.  
  
As suddenly as the resentment came, it departed. She hated being an emotional wreak and ever since that night months before, it was all she had experienced. Every human emotion possible had flooded her at one time or another and sometimes, it seemed, all at once. It was tiring being fully human, how could anyone put up with so much baggage at all times?  
  
Zora waited for a few minutes before realizing that Draco wasn't coming back to explain anything. She let out a frustrated sigh and lay as comfortably on the marble floor as possible, the cold of the floor seeping through her thin white nightgown as she closed her eyes. The potion was still coursing through her veins, making her sleep come much quicker than ever before. Even the most horrible dream was better than the reality of that marble cell.  
  
The last thought that Harry remembered was Draco's smiling face. He sensed that some amount of time had elapsed between then and now, although he could not tell how long a time period it was. His head was throbbing, but at the same time it was dull and distant. He opened his eyes and found himself in a familiar room, although he had no memory of being in it before.  
  
His eyes blinked and he studied his surroundings. It was not until he finally glimpsed the golden blonde haired girl seated across the room from him that Harry knew where he had seen this room before. Lara smiled, eerily close to Zora's own smile, and spoke, "You must be the one."  
  
"'The one'?" Harry spoke, the confusion only intensifying the pain in his head.  
  
"The one against the Dark Lord, it is you, yes? I see you're scar...I feel your journey...he has brought you to his castle?"  
  
"Well...Draco did," Harry replied thoughtfully.  
  
"Draco," Lara whispered to herself. "You know the Malfoys?"  
  
"I wish I didn't, but yes, I know them," Harry replied bitterly.  
  
"Then you must know my girl...do you?"  
  
"Yes...Zora, I know her," Harry nodded.  
  
"Zora?" she smiled. "He named her Zora? Of course he would, he really was kind to me," she trailed off. "Zorina was my mother's name, you see? Does Severus Snape still work at Hogwarts? He treats her well, I hope...she's his godchild, you see? So much I don't know...sitting in this bloody painting. He wouldn't just kill me. Oh, no! He had to torture me with existence. I'm sorry, dear...it has been nearly seventeen years since I last spoke to someone. But tell me more about my daughter...what does she look like?"  
  
Harry reached to his bag still strapped on his shoulder and quietly dug through it. He took out one of his few pictures and handed it to Lara. She took the paper into her hands as if it were a relic of a saint. She gasped at it for a moment, then tears began to stream down her face.  
  
"She looks so like them...she has my eyes and my smile I think, but she looks like them more than she does me," she said to herself as she traced her hands over the picture.  
  
"Who?" Harry couldn't help but ask...them implied more than one, he reasoned.  
  
"The Dark Lord, you can see it in her hair, thick and black. The children only inherited one of his physical traits...just enough to be his own, but not enough to be noticeable. She has his hair obviously. But she looks so much like Severus, it's uncanny. See her jaw? Her nose in a way...not as crooked, but just enough to look like him."  
  
"You mean Snape?" Harry asked, shocked. "Why would she look like Snape?"  
  
"Because...he was the one I chose. We all had to choose someone to be the father," she exclaimed with a bright smile and sparkling eyes, so much like Zora it triggered a worrying sensation deep in his gut that he would not see that smile on Zora's face ever again.  
  
"I thought Voldemort was her father," Harry said confused.  
  
"He's her creator...the one who administered the spell, but she's not physically connected to him like she is to me. She and...Draco was it? Yes, Draco. She and he are not his children as you would think they are...they were merely invented by him. I know it makes no sense...it is so complicated this mess I've helped create. Biologically...physically, they are nothing like him but their one trait of his. But mentally...they are tied to his way of thinking. The physical separation is how their...relationship could take place in the future. The two were to have a strong mental connection, but not related in any way."  
  
"You're right...that is a bit confusing," Harry replied as he tried to sort out and rationally take in her information. "So Snape is her father?"  
  
"The other girls we already married so it was easy for them to choose...but I wasn't," Lara went on as she studied the picture of Zora. "I chose Severus because he was the only man I've ever loved. I'm sorry, I'm trailing again, but you must remember I haven't spoken with anyone in seventeen years. How is she? Is she all right? She's not dead yet is she?"  
  
"No...she's alive," Harry replied although he wasn't completely sure that it was true, "she's smart too...and funny...she's a really good person."  
  
"I bet Severus taught her that, does she live with him?"  
  
"Err...yeah, she had to be sent away for a while, but she's been staying with a wizarding family, the Weasleys."  
  
"Weasleys?? Well, I definitely didn't see that coming. What would the Weasleys want to do with her? Wouldn't she and Draco be rivals against them?"  
  
"Well...it's not all that easy to explain, really. She and Draco aren't really on the best of terms...and Zora's sort of...involved with one of the Weasley boys, Fred."  
  
Harry found it rather difficult to explain the little he knew of Zora's life to, of all people, her mother. He wondered if someone would one day explain him to his own mother somehow. With that in mind he began to search for little things that her mother might want to know about her daughter.  
  
"She's fighting against Voldemort...she died to keep from joining him."  
  
"I thought you said she was alive!" Lara burst out in a panic, her hand stretched over her heart.  
  
"She is! I mean...Snape brought her back with some potion. She's fine now, a little confused at times, but she's trying her best."  
  
"Of course...that potion, I know the one you speak of. So...the spell broke? I can't imagine how hard that must feel for her. And what's she to do about Draco?"  
  
"She's denied him and Voldemort completely," Harry replied.  
  
"Denied them?" Lara smiled proudly. "Well! She is my little girl after all. She won't be having the baby?"  
  
"No...she's doing everything she can not to," Harry replied with a smile, he was at least half sure this statement was true too.  
  
"Hmm...I can't really see how that works out...he must have chosen someone else by now, Merlin knows who," Lara thought out loud. "You'll be waking soon, I sense it...they're coming for you now. All I can say is be strong and don't back down, no matter how much you want to. And tell...tell my daughter that I love her."  
  
Harry nodded and gave what felt like a smile. She leaned forward in the chair and handed the picture out to him.  
  
"Err...keep it," he smiled just before he felt himself being drawn away from the room through the ceiling. He found himself lying on the cold marble floor. He pushed himself with his hands and noticed the picture of Lara's portrait just in front of his face. He took it in his hands and carefully placed it back in his bag. Suddenly, a hooded creature with the smell of death imprinted on it opened the door to the room with an eerie creak and was soon dragging him across the floor.  
  
As Harry was still struggling to stand he was thrown through a massive wooden door and skidded on the marble floor of the throne room. The room was decorated with the same luxurious green drapes and massive coats of arms upon the walls, all swords had been removed. He smiled briefly as he thought of he and Ron defeating the gigantic spider in this very room only months before. His recollections were halted with the voice that often haunted Harry's dreams, although he would never admit it.  
  
"Bring the boy to the center and prepare him for the duel," the Dark Lord commanded to the hooded creatures from the throne.  
  
Harry was pulled up by his armpits and dragged carelessly to the center of the room. The green carpet had been rolled away revealing the clean white marble at his feet. The Dark Lord peered upon him with the fire red eyes set into his skull. Harry glanced nervously around and noted that he was completely surrounded by all sorts of ugly demonic creatures that he had never seen in any defense or creature book before. Most carried horns on their temples, some had green skin and other purple or red, most had pointed teeth, and all looked extremely deadly.  
  
The creature that had dragged Harry from his cell now stood before him and thrust a heavy sword into his cold shaking hands. He looked frantically now, preparing himself for the worst thing possible. A manicore? A dragon? What was it that he needed a sword to defend against?  
  
"I," a voice rang from near the throne. Harry turned his head quickly and saw Draco Malfoy stepping from behind the throne, carrying a sword similar to Harry's in his right hand. "I...Draco Malfoy, descendant from the great Dark Lord do challenge you, Harry Potter, to a duel to fatal blood spill in accordance with my master's agreements with these demons present here. May the Dark Power aid me and win a noble victory. Do you accept?" he said as he walked smoothly to the center of the demons until he was steps away from Harry.  
  
Harry stood silent for a moment. The only words he had caught were "duel", "fatal" and "demons", but it was enough to tell him this was not where he wanted to be. He looked around and saw there was no way out of the circle. He had no choice.  
  
"I do...I accept," Harry managed to squeak out to the boy in front of him.  
  
He watched as Draco gracefully saluted him and Harry attempted his best replica of the movement, although he sensed it was a bit off from the giggles of the demonic crowd. Draco shifted his feet and began to circle Harry. Harry continued to watch him, not blinking for an instant. He moved in the same direction as Draco, skillfully keeping the same distance between them the entire time.  
  
Draco suddenly shifted forward, sweeping his sword so quickly it was just a silver flash before Harry's eyes. Harry raised his sword instinctively and blocked the move from tearing at his flesh. With a small amount of pride, Harry continued to block each shot Draco sent his way with tiny clangs of metal on metal sparking together. And so the two continued for several minutes. Each rise of Draco's sword was met by Harry's own just before it could do him any real damage. It was when Harry finally decided to make a move of his own that Harry was finally struck. It was a quick slice at his arm and thankfully not as painful as Harry would have expected, but a thick stream of warm blood ran down his right forearm. Harry's sword fell with a clatter as Harry went to his knees. He gently nursed his arm when he realized he was in a duel with Draco to fatal ends. He turned and saw the thin boy standing over him.  
  
Was this really it? He was to die here...crouched on his knees like a coward. He made a movement for his sword and took the heavy object in his hand. He soon found that he could not even grasp the handle properly. It clattered at his side once more as the pain began to throb in Harry's forearm. Harry looked up to Draco's cold grey eyes and to the smile playing on the blonde boy's lips. He waited for something, anything, to happen. 


	9. Chapter 9

Was this really it? He was to die here...crouched on his knees like a coward. He made a movement for his sword and took the heavy object in his hand. He soon found that he could not even grasp the handle properly. It clattered at his side once more as the pain began to throb in Harry's forearm. Harry looked up to Draco's cold grey eyes and to the smile playing on the blonde boy's lips. He waited for something, anything, to happen.  
  
Draco turned gracefully to the throne and said, "My Lord, I must implore upon you a more noble kill for myself. I have never killed a living man before, as you know. I have no honor in taking the life a mere boy who can't even hold his sword. Where is the pride in this being my first life?"  
  
Harry's heart was pounding rapidly as he listened. Was Draco begging for mercy? It sounded like an honor speech, but deep down Harry could hear a plea for his life. His head went to the throne where the Dark Lord was sitting in thought.  
  
"I see your plea and I sense your obligation to honor as I once felt it too. I will set the boy aside to be dealt with later...you will have your first kill in this honorable way you seek."  
  
Voldemort gave a wave of his hand and a creature stepped forward and removed Harry from the circle. He was slowly beginning to understand, as he was dragged carelessly, that he was not about to be killed...not yet at least, perhaps that was a good thing? At least he had a few more hours to get himself and as many of his friends out of this castle as possible.  
  
That was his thought until he was stowed back in the cell with a lock he could not open, injured arm or not. His thoughts began to seep into simply how to get out of this cell, but the pain at his arm kept distracting him and made it hard to concentrate.  
  
He lay down helplessly, trying his best to stop his bleeding arm. He lay there in his pain and his misery. He suddenly thought of Burrow, wondering if he would ever see it again, of Dumbledore and McGonagall and wondered if they even sensed his danger...what surprise it would be when all discovered in the morning that he and all his friends had been murdered in the night. He wished for the first time ever that he had never let Zora sit in the compartment with him on that first day of school.  
  
Severus turned from the window, resisting the urge to throw it open again and run after Lara if he could. He raised his hand to the handle to push it open when the baby began to whimper and sob, perhaps sensing her mother's departure. She was smarter than he would have given her credit for. He walked to the crib and just looked at the screaming pink blob for a moment. What was he supposed to do exactly? The sounds were becoming too much. He picked up the child and held her as close to the way Lara had when the baby made these noises. The sounds quieted until they ceased all together.  
  
"You had me worried for a while, I thought I'd have to do a silencing charm," he said to the baby, who only looked at him. "Hmm...all this trouble over a little ball of pink flesh," he pondered as he held her.  
  
She gently yawned and threw out her tiny arms, closing her eyes and falling into a calm sleep.  
  
What he was supposed to do next? A name perhaps? He peered at the baby as she slept and wondered what to call her. Something respectful and wizardous, Lara had said. They both hated common names and Muggle names even more. He thought for a moment.  
  
"Zorina," he smiled. It had been Lara's mother's name; surely she would have been proud of that name continuing. "Zora for short," he added as he gently stroked the tiny black hairs on the baby's head. He took a second glance at the angelic face and noticed her nose was not like her mother's and didn't resemble the Dark Lord's features either. He wondered if it were a trick of the lighting...but...he could have sworn she had his nose. He shook the thought from his head and began to concentrate on what to do next? How was he going to keep this child alive and safe from the Dark Lord? How could he manage it?  
  
Zora suddenly awoke from her dream. The spell Draco had given her was still wearing off slowly. All she had to do was rest her head and her mind would drift away into her dreams. But of all the scenarios to see, why must she envision her abandonment? Especially at this time of all? She rubbed her eyes fiercely and focused on the door. She noted that the latch was now moving, and a smelly hooded creature was gliding in. It leaned behind her and roughly unlocked her wrists from the chains. He then grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the room. She was then being dragged away from her cell and was thrown into a room she recognized more than she would have liked.  
  
Draco was there, coated his sweat, but still gracefully Draco. A hooded man was at his side. He took a sword from Draco's hand; part of the blade shone a bright red color which made Zora's heart skip a beat. Now he was being given a different, clean, sword and a matching one was being thrust into her own hand. She studied the weapon and noticed its uniqueness and its design. She looked more closely and saw the name "Salzar Slytherin" etched into the metal. A jolt of panic filled her heart as she raised her head to Draco. He too gazed upon it with a nervous glance before he turned immediately to the throne.  
  
"My Lord, I mean no disrespect, but is this weaponry....completely necessary?"  
  
"You're last battle did not satisfy the agreement I made with our friends here," Voldemort explained, "these swords are especially designed to bring death...I must have blood for the agreement to be sealed and one of you must supply it, I care not which! Fight...or I shall kill you both myself."  
  
"My Lord, I beg humbly for a new partner...anyone, a woman to be my first kill?"  
  
"A woman who has been trained beyond your years and who you are in love with...yes, I believe there is a bit of pride in that kill. Begin!"  
  
For a fleeting moment the two just stood and stared at each other. Draco saluted his sword and she quickly returned the action. They circled each other cautiously, neither one wanting to be the first to strike. Zora began to wonder how they were going to get themselves out of this situation. Draco was the first to attack. It was simple and precise and completely rehearsed.  
  
Zora recalled the previous year at Hogwarts and how badly bandaged Severus had been for the longest time before he finally allowed Draco to be her dueling partner. They had even set a few routine movements to give the appearance they were trying to fight each other, while at the same time they could relax and enjoy the laziness of the duel.  
  
Zora was now counteracting just as she had nearly a year before in the large room near the dungeons. Severus was calling out suggestions from the sidelines as he studied their movements. Draco would give an outward show of tiredness and the battle would end. But now it was Zora who was becoming tired. She felt they weight of the sword all throughout her arm and she was finding it difficult to keep up with Draco's pace.  
  
His eyes were flashing concern as he carefully watched her. She was putting on a show of strength, trying to remember just what it felt like to go on and on without a hint of exhaustion. She could feel the beads of sweat pouring down her face and the material of her nightgown becoming soaked with her perspiration. She darted her eyes frantically, trying to see a way out of this circle. There had to be a way out, a gap she could run through. Maybe if she got enough of a head start she could out run them. But what about Harry and Ron? She would have to come-.  
  
The duel ended. Zora stared in disbelief as she held the sword in front of her. Her hands began shaking as she saw the tip of sword fit snugly into Draco's side. Her heart began to pound furiously as she raised her eyes to his face. He had gone completely pale, his cold eyes were wide with shock, his mouth gaped open in surprise. She couldn't do anything but stand there and stare at her damage. He was supposed to block, she told herself, he always blocked before.  
  
She sensed there was something at her side now. A cold white hand with spider leg fingers covered her own on the sword's hilt. Before she realized what was happening, she was being forced to push the sword further in, the sound of Draco's sliced flesh filling her ears. She felt herself give out a little cry and tears quickly flooded over her eyes at the horrible sound.  
  
The Dark Lord was saying something close to her ear, but she couldn't hear a word of it. All she could hear was the labored breathing of Draco a few steps away from her. The cold hand was on hers again, this time the sword was ripped violently from his body, sending Draco to his knees and clutching at his open wound.  
  
"I'll leave you to say your goodbyes," Voldemort hissed unpleasantly as he walked out of the circle of demons. Draco was now lying weakly on his back, his chest heaving with great effort. Zora cautiously kneeled beside him, hoping he would tell her it was just an act...that he really wasn't dieing.  
  
The blood was pouring from the wound and to the white marble floor and disappeared between the pieces of tile under his body.  
  
"Collecting," he explained weakly as he followed her line of vision. "The demons...they're collecting the blood under me."  
  
"So...it's real then?" Zora asked as she took Draco's hand in her own.  
  
"Feels that way," he chuckled softly as he closed his eyes tightly together.  
  
"Is there...nothing?" Zora asked stupidly, not knowing what else to do. She wanted to say so many things, but all of her thoughts left her as she kneeled there.  
  
"If...if what I dreamed last night is true...then everything will be ok," he replied slowly.  
  
"What are you talking about?" Zora asked as she tightened her grip on his hand.  
  
"Midnight," he replied quietly so lightly Zora barely heard him.  
  
Zora wanted to ask more, but the hooded creatures were pulling her to her feet.  
  
"No! No!" she screamed as loud as she could. She attacked them violently will all her strength, but it was not nearly enough to have any effect.  
  
She watched helplessly as Draco's body became smaller and smaller as she was dragged away until finally the circle of demons closed around him and the doors of the throne room were slammed shut.  
  
She continued her kicking and screaming until she was thrown into one of the elaborate bedrooms of the castle. The door was closed and locked from the outside as she was thrown inside. She ran to it and continued her pounding against the door.  
  
"Let me out!" she screamed helplessly over and over until it was nothing more than a tearful whisper of something that sounded like "He's dead...he's dead...he's dead."  
  
Harry was thrust into his cell, his bag waiting for him where it was left on the floor. He went to his bag and dug through it. He was now more confused than ever. As Harry thought back and calculated, Draco removed every useful item from his bag that could get him out of the situation. However, he had asked mercy on his life in the throne room. But now Harry was locked in a cell with a bleeding arm and no way of stopping the blood. He ripped at his robes and tied an emergency bandage around his forearm to stop the bleeding, the cloth soon becoming drenched with his freely flowing blood.  
  
He gave one last run through of his bag and found nothing that could help it at all. He threw the bag in frustration against the white marble wall, the contents flying carelessly out and around the floor. He sat his back against the wall, opposite the door and silently waited for something to happen. He honestly didn't expect it to...but it did.  
  
The knob of the door turned and it pushed open. Harry stared for a moment, expecting almost anything to enter the room, but nothing did. For nearly a full minute the door just stood open. Too apprehensive to gather his things and leave, Harry waited for evidence that this was not a trap or trick of any kind. He refused to believe that the door to a cell holding someone the Dark Lord had plans to kill later on would simply open on its own.  
  
"Harry?" a voice called from the empty doorway. "Is it safe?"  
  
"Who's there?" Harry called out strongly.  
  
"Who do you think?" the voice called back. There was a rustle and then the appearance of a red haired head...just the head.  
  
"Ron?" Harry questioned.  
  
Then he remembered Draco had not just emptied the contents of his bag...he had given them all to Ron. For Ron to use...to get him out of this room...at eleven thirty. Harry was flooded with relief as he realized that it was quite possible that they were all going to get out of this alive. He had Ron now...all he needed was Zora, Draco, and Ginny. Harry rose to his feet and rushed over to Ron.  
  
"The bottles he gave you!" Harry burst out without explanation as he began to gather all discarded items from all the corners of the room. "Where are they?"  
  
Ron studied Harry for a second before removing the cloak, revealing the rest of his body, and emptied his pockets. Harry threw his bag over his shoulder and walked over to Ron. Harry grabbed at a clear bottle filled with a red elixir and bit the cork topper off and poured the contents down his throat. He waited.  
  
"What in the world is going on?" Ron demanded as he watched his friend.  
  
"Basically? Draco and I just dueled to the death, but not really. He had my life spared when I hurt my arm and I was brought here. He's probably dueling with someone else right now, but I don't know who. I had a dream where I spoke with Zora's mother. She and Draco are the descendants of Voldemort, but they aren't related because incest is a little wrong when you're supposed to have a child, even for the Dark Arts. I just took a bit of spider's blood I carry around for emergencies, which should fix up my arm Draco cut in the duel. And right now I'm trying to figure out how to get to Ginny and Zora."  
  
"What's that about Draco and Zora?" Ron asked bewildered.  
  
Harry shuffled lightly through the remaining bottles, ignoring Ron's confusion as he raked his brain. None of the bottles seemed to be of any use. He kept them in case of emergencies, all healing potions he thought it would be necessary to carry around. He let out a deep exhale as he tried to calm his brain enough to think. That was when he felt a weight inside his pocket. It was a bottle he had become so accustomed to carrying with him he had actually forgotten it was there. The decision potion Ginny had given him for Christmas.  
  
He removed the bottle and held it in his hand, weighing the facts quietly in his mind. If he took the elixir, wouldn't that mean it would show him what would happen if he decided to walk out of the room? He had read once, or heard Hermione lecture, that when used in physical situations, a potion like this might be able to predict a future outcome for every action he would take. If his actions were going towards Zora or Ginny...wouldn't it be able to lead him to where they were?  
  
Before Harry had the chance to rule out his idea to delirium, he removed the cork and drank the potion down. It tasted a bit like sour milk, but Harry was in no mood to mind at present.  
  
"Geez, Harry," Ron's voice entered his mind, "you're like an addict! Do you even know what you just took?"  
  
"Decision making potion...it's going to lead me to Ginny and Zora, wait and see."  
  
Harry stepped out into the hallway. He looked down one side and saw the band of demons charging after he and Ron. The vision faded and he turned his head in the other direction. Before his eyes flashed a vision of Zora and Ginny sitting quietly. That too quickly faded from his sight. He turned back to Ron and said, "Whatever you do, don't go that way," Harry said as he pointed to the direction of the demons. "Better yet...go to the throne room, it's two rights and a left from here. Take the cloak, find Draco...see if he knows how to get out of here. Meet you back here no matter what in at least a half hour, all right?"  
  
"Harry...," Ron began, but stopped himself. He let out a deep sigh and put on the cloak, "See you in half an hour."  
  
Harry ran down the corridor, feeling Ron at his feet and then turn off towards the throne room. Harry followed the flashes as they directed him to the girls. It was not until he reached a familiar corridor he had visited so many times in his sleep that he realized why this all felt so familiar. He looked down to his forearm and realized his arm had begun to bleed again, the potion wearing off just as it had in his dream and the dull pain returning along with it. He looked to his right and saw Zora pacing impatiently on the rug in the green velvet room. He looked to his left and saw Ginny crying on the marble floor, her arms and legs chained.  
  
He closed his eyes and pushed his mind further. He wanted so badly to go to his left and to get Ginny as far away form this as possible. But at the same time he felt he needed to get to Zora first. Perhaps she knew something he didn't? He opened his eyes again and looked to his left. He caught a flash of hooded creatures gliding towards him. He looked to his right and saw himself and Zora running to Ron and Draco. Without any further delay, he ran to his right. 


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten  
  
It was not until he reached a familiar corridor he had visited so many times in his sleep that he realized why this all felt so familiar. He looked down to his forearm and realized his arm had begun to bleed again, the potion wearing off just as it had in his dream and the dull pain returning along with it. He looked to his right and saw Zora pacing impatiently on the rug in the green velvet room. He looked to his left and saw Ginny crying on the marble floor, her arms and legs chained.  
  
He closed his eyes and pushed his mind further. He wanted so badly to go to his left and to get Ginny as far away form this as possible. But at the same time he felt he needed to get to Zora first. Perhaps she knew something he didn't? He opened his eyes again and looked to his left. He caught a flash of hooded creatures gliding towards him. He looked to his right and saw himself and Zora running to Ron and Draco. Without any further delay, he ran to his right.  
  
Zora kneeled helplessly on the rug. She didn't know what else to do but sit here and wait for something to happen. The rush of excitement she tried her hardest not to acknowledge was still running through her veins. She was actually feeling pleased that she had killed Draco and she hated Voldemort even more for this feeling. She liked it too much.  
  
At the same time as her excitement of killing was the overwhelming human end she had been given upon her death. She could not get the image of his eyes from her mind. The sound of the sword piercing his side would not leave her ears. She could even detect his smell on her somehow. A knock sounded at the door and the latch was undone.  
  
"How are you feeling?" the familiar cold tone sounded in her ears.  
  
Her body involuntarily shuddered at the sound and her face turned to disgust.  
  
"I'm fine," she lied as she kept her eyes on the Persian rug beneath her.  
  
"You lie, child. You're energized, you're excited, you're happy for the first time in your life, admit it! You've finally done what you were born to do," Voldemort said with an undeniable smile in his voice.  
  
"He's still alive," she said as strongly as she could although she did not know if he was or not.  
  
"Yes," Voldemort said disappointedly, "but he will die soon. It should not bother you. . . . I knew you were the stronger of the two, despite your upbringing. I suppose there truly is a bit of me in you somewhere."  
  
"I beg to differ. . . . I'm nothing like you," she replied as she rose to sit on the green rug beneath her.  
  
He only laughed. She closed her eyes and bit her lip, careful not to draw blood and give his affect on her away. His laugh had no joy in it but was instead filled with anger and hate. The sound brought a surge of emotions to her eyes.  
  
"You amuse me, child," he said as his laughter diminished.  
  
"My name is Zora," she replied harshly as she finally looked up at him.  
  
"Your name has no importance to me. . . . I did not give it to you," he sneered.  
  
"And you have no power over me as a price. I'm not like your damned spider or—or like Draco," she added sadly.  
  
"No, you're not. I did not plan you this way exactly. . . but I like surprises, lucky for you. You will be a nice addition to our family," Voldemort said as he turned towards the door.  
  
"Are you deaf or something?! We went over this! I'm not joining you! I'd rather die first!"  
  
"You already did that. . . and look where it got you. You cannot deny your destiny, child. Besides, soon you will not have much of a choice."  
  
With that he opened the door to the bedroom and began to exit. Zora became filled to the brim with so many emotions that she could no longer stand it. She rose from the rug and lunged violently at Voldemort. The door was closed before she reached him, but she gave it her all none the less. Just before she was to collide with the wood, she opened her eyes and thought quickly. She threw her hands in front of her and stopped herself. It took even longer for her to realize that she was floating. She had never made contact with the wood and a protective light was streaming from the palms of her hands, filling all the space that separated her body from the door. She would have smiled, she would have laughed, she would have jumped with joy to have her powers back. But she didn't. She pushed herself back upright and commenced to pace worriedly on the green rug beneath her bare feet.  
  
The sound of the door being unlatched once more filled her ears and the same chills ran down her spine at the thought of hearing that voice once again.  
  
"Zora?" the familiar voice called from the doorway. "Are you in here?"  
  
"Harry!" she exclaimed as she ran towards him. "Harry, we have to get out of here."  
  
She did not take a moment to explain or to make any attempt at being comforted for her tears. She was already out of the room and running as fast as possible down the empty corridors. She did not take a moment to wonder why the halls were so empty until she reached Ron who was gently lying Draco on the marble floor.  
  
"Pick him back up, we have to find a way out of here," she said immediately. She turned to see if Harry had managed to keep up with her.  
  
"What happened to him?" Harry asked as he clutched his chest and attempted to regain his normal breathing patterns.  
  
"No time to explain!" Zora replied as she bent down and pulled at Draco's arm. "We need to leave now."  
  
"Oh no you don't!" Ron exclaimed. "We're not going anywhere without Ginny!"  
  
"Ginny?" Zora asked as her heart skipped a beat. She glared angrily at Draco and felt her sympathy pass away for a moment and she dropped him roughly back to the ground. "What the hell is Ginny doing here and why didn't you tell me before?"  
  
"You didn't ask," he replied with a shrug of his shoulders.  
  
"Well, I'm asking now. . . where the fuck is she?" Zora went on crossly as she reached at Draco's waist. She removed the dragon dagger she gave him for their birthday and held the deadly knife in her hand.  
  
"Dungeons," Draco replied reluctantly, "but I don't suggest going after her."  
  
"What?" Ron burst. Zora was worried for a moment that he would rip Draco's head off and placed a hand on his arm, making him ease back a step.  
  
"I've dreamt this. . . once Zora and Ron died, once Harry died, once I died and once we all got out. . . that was the one when we left without her," Draco explained quickly.  
  
"Well," Zora said with deep thought, "we really can't just leave her."  
  
Zora was worried—more so than she was used to. Draco never dreamt incorrectly. He was taught to dig into his mind and find the truth hidden there. He was always right in his dreams. She didn't want to lose anyone more than she had to but at the same time felt a nagging feeling that they had to at least try.  
  
"Ron," she said finally, "come with me. . . we're at least going to try. If something happens. We'll turn back immediately and meet up with you all then."  
  
"You'll regret it," Draco warned.  
  
"And if we don't I'll regret that too. If I have to regret something, I'll regret trying," Zora replied.  
  
She looked to Ron. He seemed pleased and relieved, but still incredibly pale. She gave him a small smile, the most she could manage to muster at the time, and started running towards the dungeons as she held the beautiful dagger in her hand. She was pulled only through a memory locked inside one of the many dreams she had forgotten as soon as the sun hit her open eyes. She was turning down halls she recognized and at the same time had never seen before. She was gazing upon shields and paintings she had admired in a youth she had never experienced. She knew passwords and she knew passageways. What she did not know was why the halls were so blessedly empty.  
  
Harry kept his eyes on his two friends until they had turned a sharp corner and were gone. He looked awkwardly back at Draco. He looked so pale and helpless lying on the marble floor as he was. Harry walked until he was just a few feet away and sat, having no desire to get closer to the person who got them into this mess in the first place.  
  
"Why is Ginny here?" Harry asked, the first of many questions burdening his mind.  
  
"That I will not answer," Draco replied sternly.  
  
"Well then, why are you so weak?" Harry asked crossly.  
  
"That is a fair question—remember our duel? Of course you do, it was only a few minutes ago. Well, Zora did what you could not," Draco said as he removed his hand from his side, revealing a spot of blood on his white shirt. "Actually, I made her. I don't think she's realized it yet. Anyway, the demons surrounding us needed descendant blood from a fatal wound. Zora and I are obvious, and you are an extremely distant one, but still related. The slash at your arm was nothing life threatening, but disarming. . . you were excused. First kill is a big honor in the family, I knew he would understand. Zora was next, I didn't expect that really, but we fought forever until I decided to just let it happen. Weasley gave me some awful tasting stuff that closed the wound and stopped the bleeding, hurts like hell though. . . but not too badly. The demons have their blood and no one cares about anything else right now. "  
  
"Is that why the halls are empty?" Harry continued.  
  
Draco looked intently at Harry for a long moment before he replied.  
  
"No."  
  
"Why then?"  
  
"Some things I cannot say," Draco replied with a shrug of his shoulders.  
  
"Alright," Harry said as he started to think, "why are you helping us? Aren't you supposed to be—with Voldemort?"  
  
"It's all her I guess," Draco continued with deep thought, "I know I don't really love her, or at least part of me knows. But still I feel I love her, and when you love someone, you'll do anything for them. She likes you, she's your friend. Because of that, I will treat you as one. If she hated you, I would hate you for that reason alone. No matter how much I want to tell you all to sod off. . . to leave that red haired tart to waste in the cell and to lead Weasley to a dragon pit. No matter how much I want that, I won't do it only because it's not what she wants."  
  
Harry just listened as Draco went on. He was cold in his tone, but there was feeling in his words that Harry could not place. It did not look or sound like love although that's what Draco was saying it was. It was something more or possibly something less, but it certainly was no love that Harry had ever heard of.  
  
"And after all this?"  
  
"What? Voldemort? I'll be disowned for sure, but it's worth it. She'll smile when it's over. . . . I'll make her smile for once, I can never do that it seems. But if she smiles, it will be worth it. Of course I'll go to Hogwarts, stay for the Holidays and probably go straight to some job or further school to keep a place to stay, but I'll worry about that later," Draco went on, almost absently.  
  
"Well," Harry began awkwardly, "I meant after tonight—will you still be on our side?"  
  
"Things are not always as they seem, Potter; things are going to happen. I know that for sure. I don't know how this is all going to end, but I do know one thing. We are messing with dark magic and its not all lollipops and wonderful things from here. It's vengeful, it's dangerous. This isn't messing around or a game—it's serious. It's not over yet, Potter. It's only just begun."  
  
Harry was reminded of his dreams and the boy emerging from the marble. He racked his brain but found nothing else he wished to know at that time. His thoughts turned to Zora and Ron and Ginny and remained with them the remainder of time he sat.  
  
Zora stood before the door and unlocked the latch. She was perfectly still for a moment with her hand wrapped around the dragon handled dagger, wondering why it was this easy. She clutched the dagger hilt tighter and tighter as she pushed the door open. She could sense Ron at her side and knew he wanted to rush in. Perhaps it was his experience as simply being Harry's friend that kept him cautiously as bay.  
  
"If anything comes at us, just turn and run and tell the others to leave, understand?"  
  
Ron gave an affirmative nod although she knew he would not simply turn and run. It was not in Ron's nature to leave someone in harm's way. He would rush at the obstacle, he would try to get to his sister and get Zora away from danger. The affirmation only comforted Zora for a moment, but it was enough to get her to step into the room.  
  
She saw Ginny immediately with her tangled red hair draped over her face. She was kneeling on the floor with her hands behind her back, probably shackled. She was clearly shaking, but whether it was from fear or the cold air in the room Zora could not be sure. The thin nightgown Ginny was wearing was no help at all she was sure, the dungeon felt as though it was easily below freezing.  
  
Zora eyed to room. There were no present dangers, the room was completely empty. She did not give Ron any sign to enter the room although she knew he was dieing to rush in. She walked slowly over to Ginny.  
  
Her head rose weakly and she gazed through her tangled hair at Zora. Ginny made no attempt at informing Zora of a trap or an ambush awaiting them. She simply sat attentively and watched with wide and active eyes.  
  
Zora bent behind Ginny, still watching out the corner of her eye for something to go awry. She placed the sharp enchanted blade to the metal links behind Ginny's back and easily cut through the thick metal as if it were only butter. She gazed quickly around the room, still waiting. She was satisfied with the test and then carefully sliced the cuffs wrapped around Ginny's delicate pale skin in half. Zora could see the black and blue marks around Ginny's small wrists as Ginny pulled her arms in front of her body.  
  
Zora pulled at Ginny's arms and bolted for the door, Ginny trailing a little behind. She stopped and made sure Ginny was through the doorway before she followed, slamming the door loudly behind them. Ron had his arms around his sister and was crying softly with relief into her hair.  
  
"They just left me in there. . . it felt like days. . . ." She was crying weakly.  
  
"It's almost midnight, but I'm sure it did feel like days," Zora chimed comfortably. "I know you're tired, but we have to get to Harry and Draco now."  
  
Ginny nodded her head and began to walk slowly down the corridor, Zora and Ron following. Zora broke out into a run when she was sure Ginny was strong enough to endure the physical hardship. Zora was clutching at her chest and once again wishing she had her usual strength back. Who knew that she would miss something she resented so much.  
  
Zora turned the corner, greeted by Harry's smile. She easily passed by him although she did not mean it to be rude or insensitive. They had to get out and the sooner the better. She didn't know what it was, but for some unknown reason she knew they had to get out before midnight. She kneeled by Draco's side and replaced the dagger back into its holder. She carefully lifted his left arm over her shoulders and lifted him from the floor.  
  
"I know this isn't a great time—emotional and all—" she said as she strained under supporting Draco's dead weight, "but we really do have to go—now!"  
  
Ron and Harry had their arms wrapped around Ginny. Zora's heart went out to the three. They were tired. They were scared. She needed them more than ever to hold it together. As soon as Harry appeared at the bedroom door, she knew they would get out of here. Now, not having the seeing powers she once did, Zora was losing faith in her friends and unfortunately in herself as well.  
  
She turned with Draco at her side and walked down the corridor. It wasn't until she saw Ron on the other side of Draco that she knew the three had taken up to following her again. She was comforted that at least they still had faith in her. Why should they? Didn't they know it was almost certain she was leading them to their deaths? She had to try though. There was one safe way out that she could recall from some dream eerily similar to this night. . . they just had to make it in time.  
  
"Are you all right?" was all Harry could think to say to Ginny. It was awkwardly silent behind Zora, Draco, and Ron.  
  
"I think so," Ginny weakly smiled as she rubbed at her bruised wrists. "Weird isn't it?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Ron—carrying Draco like that. They hate each other, but look at them now," Ginny replied.  
  
"Yeah, it is weird," Harry replied as he looked at the boys ahead of them. He knew if they did survive this, both Ron and Draco would deny this moment even existed, but now it didn't matter.  
  
"I'm sure you'll explain how you all got here and why this happened to us, just wait until tomorrow, I can't handle it right now."  
  
"It's not too difficult," Harry admitted. "Draco told us you and Zora were missing. . . we came after you. There's more wrapped in it, but that's the gist."  
  
"It's good; she's all right—Zora I mean." Ginny nodded.  
  
"We came for you too, Ginny, not just Zora. You should've seen Ron's face when he saw your room; he was so pale I thought he was going to pass out," Harry said as he remembered the horrific sight of Ron in the doorway.  
  
"What about you're face," he barely heard at his side.  
  
"What'd you say?" he asked afraid he misheard her quiet voice.  
  
"Nothing," she replied with her eyes on the marble floor.  
  
He knew he was not supposed to hear her when she spoke. At any other time, he imagined her cheeks would have turned pink, but she was far too weak to be anything but white.  
  
Harry's head darted up when he noticed Zora drop Draco's arm and start running forward. Harry took her place at Draco's left just before Ron dropped his body to the floor. He helped Ron ease Draco's weak body to the wall and propped him up so he wouldn't fall over.  
  
"No! No!" she shouted as she ran. She hit the end of the corridor and slammed her fists into the shiny white marble. "God dammit! Mother fuckers! Asshole pieces of Goddamn shit!" she continued as she kicked and screamed and plunged her fists into the marble. She stood back once a circle of red appeared on the white marble.  
  
She turned back to the group with defeat written across her face and her wounded hand cupped in her other. She didn't look at any of them, but at the floor.  
  
"We're trapped," she said quietly, "and we're Muggles." 


	11. Chapter 11

"No! No!" she shouted as she ran. She hit the end of the corridor and slammed her fists into the shiny white marble. "God dammit! Mother fuckers! Asshole pieces of Goddamn shit!" she continued as she kicked and screamed and plunged her fists into the marble. She stood back once a circle of red appeared on the white marble.  
  
She turned back to the group with defeat written across her face and her wounded hand cupped in her other. She didn't look at any of them, but at the floor.  
  
"We're trapped," she said quietly, "and we're Muggles."  
  
"What?!" Ron burst out from Draco's side.  
  
"It's midnight...we've all lost our powers...and I only just got mine back too!" she added mournfully.  
  
"What do you mean we've lost our powers?" Harry couldn't help but ask.  
  
"The six of us...anyone who was in the halls really I think. Funny how Draco forgot to mention that defense mechanism," Zora added with a sneer towards Draco.  
  
"Sworn to secrecy...and it's not my fault you couldn't remember why we needed to get out of here before midnight, is it?"  
  
"So there's no way out?" Ginny said from behind Harry as she peered between he and Ron's shoulders.  
  
"No," Draco said weakly over to her from the wall, "there are millions of ways out, you just need a spell for all of them."  
  
"So, how do we get out?" Ginny asked, looking back hopefully to Zora.  
  
"We...don't," Zora replied sadly. "This was the only way out I could think of...simple Alohomora...but we're locked in."  
  
"Will it wear off?" Ron asked worriedly as he reached into his pocket and drew out his wand.  
  
Zora looked at the charmed wood and noticed it had lost its luster and gleam...just a normal piece of whittled wood.  
  
"In two weeks," Draco replied to him, "but don't worry, we'll be dead long before then."  
  
"We're not going to die," Zora said although she didn't look as though she believed her words.  
  
"Then how are we going to get out of here?" Draco asked her, "We have six hours until sunrise, but we still can't get out of here no matter what. It's hopeless, let's just go find him now and get it over with."  
  
"Would you shut up and think for a second?!" Zora shouted.  
  
"No...I'm not supposed to get us out of here, you are. No offense, little red," he said to Ginny and back to Zora, "but I told you not to go after her, we would be out and laughing about this now."  
  
"You'd be the only one laughing, asshole," Ron said with a sneer as he looking down on the pale blonde boy leaning against the wall.  
  
"I meant no offense, I told you that," Draco replied as Harry eased Ron's arm back from Draco a few steps.  
  
"What about Hogwarts? The portal in the Infirmary?" Ginny offered quietly from behind Harry.  
  
"The Infirmary," Zora repeated airily,  
  
"Is sealed," Draco reminded her.  
  
"No...we can break it," Zora said with deep thought.  
  
"Yes...from the opposite end of the seal and with no powers what so ever...yes, it's so impossible it will never work," Draco replied sarcastically.  
  
"Someone on the outside...someone like...Hermione," Zora said conclusively.  
  
"She's at Diagon Alley," Ron said immediately. "It's just a train ride from Hogsmeade."  
  
"Last train's at one, I think," Ginny added helpfully.  
  
"You Gryffindors really are insane, aren't you? Listen, that's great and all, Team Optimism, but how are we going to let little Granger know we're even here?"  
  
"A raven," Zora burst out with her first real smile of the night. "If we send a letter tied with a black ribbon on a black raven, then whoever sees it will think-."  
  
"It's my death notice to my father," Draco said for Zora. "It's stupid enough...it might just work."  
  
"We've got an hour to get it to her," Zora said as she started off down the hall. "He knows we're powerless, there shouldn't be anyone in the halls until sunrise."  
  
"Ahem," Draco called to Zora.  
  
She turned and noticed everyone was now following her down the hall.  
  
"Oh...Ginny and Harry stay with Draco, will you?" Zora asked, looking back at Draco resting against the wall all alone.  
  
Ginny and Harry nodded their heads and turned back and walked toward Draco. Zora rushed up and tugged Harry back, making sure Ginny was across from Draco and far enough away not to hear. "Do not leave either of them...understand?"  
  
Harry looked a bit confused, but nodded his head just the same and went to sit with Ginny and Draco against the wall.  
  
Zora turned back and walked down the hall with Ron at her side. She knew the way although she knew she could not instruct anyone else on how to get to the specific room she was looking for. It was strange how well she knew this place she had only entered once and had never explored. She would have been scared, but there was no time for that now.  
  
She took the required turns, momentarily losing Ron with her quickness.  
  
"It should be this door," she told him over her shoulder.  
  
She wasn't surprised that it was unlocked or that all the candles were lit, waiting for the next comer. Everyone in the castle knew someone was going to die and it was customary for the discoverer to send the death notice. The room was filled with owls and birds of all species and colors. The shelves lining the walls contained stacks of scented and colored parchments for any use along with boxes of ribbons.  
  
"What is this place?" Ron asked after he closed the door behind them.  
  
"Message room, older castles have them...now we have Owl Posts and there's no need to have one, but back when everything was spread out it was a necessity," Zora said as she went to the stacks of parchment. "Do you think cinnamon is a 'Draco scent'?" she asked as she sniffed one piece of parchment.  
  
"Try 'Grotesque vomit'," Ron replied with a sneer.  
  
"Looks like they're out...let's settle for pepper," she said as she took a light gray colored paper from its stack. "Just in case someone intercepts it...they'll know it's a death notice, hopefully they won't open it," Zora said as she took the paper and settled herself at a desk.  
  
She took a feather quill and dipped it into a pitch black ink bottle and began to write:  
  
"NOT A DEATH NOTICE" at the very top. "Hopefully she doesn't cry too much over it, thinking its one of you who died," Zora said with some thought. She took another ink bottle marked "Run Free" and dipped the quill into it. "Just in case," she said to Ron.  
  
"This...thing she has to do...is it dangerous?" Ron asked as he looked over her shoulder to see what she was writing.  
  
Zora stopped her quill mid word and thought how to reply. "Well," she began, "it's...difficult...and she might...it won't kill her or anything, ok?"  
  
"But will it hurt her?" Ron persisted.  
  
"It will test her. It's a powerful spell Dumbledore put on the door, he didn't want anyone to get through it again. The counter spell is very advanced and it's possible that there are some...booby traps built in, but I promise she will be that same Hermione as before," Zora assured him.  
  
Or at least I hope, she thought to herself.  
  
She replaced her quill on the page and continued to explain the process of undoing the seal in the Infirmary. She hoped this letter reached Hermione and only Hermione. This was their last chance of escaping death.  
  
The three sat in silence. Draco was propped against the marble wall, his hand clutching at his side. Harry was at his left and was taking the moment of peace to examine his arm. The wound had reopened as it had in his dream while he ran down the corridor to Zora and Ginny, but he hadn't had time to examine it since. Ginny sat across from the two boys, her legs stretched out straight in front of her and her hands clenched tightly together in her lap.  
  
"How..." Ginny began, her voice echoing through the hall, she began again more quietly, "How does she know how to open the seal?"  
  
"She dreamt it...just like me. I don't think I could explain it to another person, but if she wants to take a crack at it...then let her have at it."  
  
"You don't think she'll be able to explain it?" Harry asked, looking up from his arm.  
  
"Probably not...it's not like a swish and flick and it's done. It's complicated. If she leaves something out or doesn't clarify a pronunciation, then we're fucked."  
  
"And you say that so calmly," Ginny remarked as she stood and walked over to Harry.  
  
"No, I'm accepting it. It's more than likely that we won't be getting out of this castle...ever."  
  
"Let's hope you're wrong," Ginny said quietly as she removed the blood soaked rag from around Harry's forearm and tossed it to the side.  
  
"Let's hope I am...but I'm not usually," Draco replied airily.  
  
"You said you've dreamed four endings...how can you be sure which is right?" Harry asked as he watched Ginny.  
  
She reached to the bottom of his already torn shirt and pulled a new, cleaner, scratch of cloth and wrapped it around his wound.  
  
"Well...to be honest, I'm baffled. I haven't dreamed once where all of us get out, at least one of us has to die. So unless one of us does die soon...then it's more than likely all of us will when the sun comes up."  
  
"How do you know? You can't know that for sure," Harry replied as Ginny stood and walked calmly back across the hall.  
  
"You don't understand the way this works," Draco replied as he closed his eyes, trying to keep his patience, "you'll never be able to understand."  
  
"Ok," Zora said as she held the large black bird clasped in her hands, "I know the tag says Lucius, but I need you to take it to Hermione Granger...Diagon Alley...Blourish and Blott's, understand?"  
  
"Rawk," he replied and gently pecked at her finger.  
  
She went over the process she had seen in her mind and was completely positive she had included everything. With a silent prayer, Zora finally let go of the black bird. It had only taken twenty minutes to complete the letter, and she was satisfied that she had included everything.  
  
"Are you sure that you got everything...I mean I saw all the scratch outs you made, are you absolutely positively completely sure that this is going to work?" Ron pestered in her head as they left the room, walked down the halls, and meet Harry, Ginny, and Draco.  
  
"What's he babbling on about?" Draco asked with annoyance.  
  
"He doesn't trust me is all," Zora smiled as she rolled her eyes.  
  
"Can't really blame him with everything you've put him through in the last few hours...cheating on his brother and getting everyone's life in danger and all," Draco replied.  
  
"I wouldn't bring that up if I were you considering you were the other person involved in both of those," Zora warned him.  
  
"I'll wait till Harry, Ginny, and me are all out of here and still alive before I start holding it against you two," Ron replied as he took Draco's arm and wrapped it around his neck.  
  
"See? No worries," Zora smiled from behind Ron.  
  
"You're a bit more chipper than I'm comfortable with," Draco added as he slowly rose from the floor, just as Harry stepped in and took his other arm. "You sure you got everything...if you left just one thing-."  
  
"Draco!" Zora interrupted, her voice ringing throughout the halls, "I got everything...trust me."  
  
"You're sooooo lucky that no one's roaming the halls looking for us, 'cause that scream would wake the dead."  
  
"Yeah...well, they shouldn't have been damn cocky to think we wouldn't get out and find a way to escape that they wouldn't guard us...right?"  
  
"First of all...they're the ones who set the whole 'steal your powers' booby trap. And we're still not out, oh optimistic one," Draco sneered.  
  
"We're an hour a way...I promise," Zora insisted with a confident nod.  
  
And so they sat in a vacant marble walled corridor. The only hope they had for escaping lie on the other side of the dead end hallway. Harry could visualize Hermione with her wand in her hand, muttering numerous incantations, fighting to get them free. It had not occurred to him at first just how many people could intercept the letter or the fact that the bird could get lost or simply that Zora had in fact forgotten a piece of the spell. No, none of these thoughts had entered his mind until he was sitting on the cold floor for nearly two hours, waiting in complete silence. Doubt had set in and acceptance was still far off. He closed his eyes and felt the weight of Ginny's head on his shoulder as the thought that they really weren't going to get out entered his mind. Draco was right. The portal was sealed, the castle was sealed, their fates were sealed. They really were going to die.  
  
A burst of light flooded the hallway and the sound of roaring thunder echoed uncontrollably down the hall. Everyone who had been sleeping was wide awake and eyes alert and darting all around. All except Draco, who simply yawned. When the brilliant light finally faded, a black square was now in the dead end hallway, the same square that had been present once before for their escape. Harry was the first to his feet, instinctively going to Draco's side and easing him onto his feet, Ron soon took the other. Zora quickly stepped in front of them.  
  
"Let me go in first," she said as she held her hand out before them, signaling them to stop. "If I scream, just run as fast as you can in any other direction."  
  
Before anyone could even think to ask or say anything, she had turned and jumped through the black square. Her body disappeared through the darkness, and the four remaining waited impatiently on the other side for Zora's voice to call back.  
  
"It's all right," her voice echoed back, "it's Hermione. Ginny, come through first."  
  
Ginny looked startled for a moment, but obeyed and walked up to the square with a little hesitation. She looked back to the three remaining boys and gave a smile to her brother and to Harry before she eased herself through the square. Once she had disappeared, Harry eased Draco and Ron through. The Infirmary was cold and silent as they walked in. Hermione sat on one of the beds, her face pale and her chest heaving from exhaustion. Zora was standing in front of her, muttering something to her and nodding her head.  
  
"Ron, Harry," Zora called once she saw them, "quick give me a room with no windows and only one way in and one way out."  
  
Harry stared at her for a moment. What on earth was she talking about?  
  
"Snape's store room," Ginny quickly answered for them.  
  
"Is it big enough to fit all of us?" Zora asked her quickly.  
  
"Should be," Ginny guessed with a shrug of her shoulders.  
  
"Why do we-," Ron began, but Zora was already darting out of the Infirmary.  
  
She paused at the entrance and shouted "Well, hurry up!"  
  
Hermione rose and limped a little as she made her way to the door. Ginny stood at her side and took her arm, helping her along. Harry and Ron stood for a moment before Draco made an attempt to follow on his own, stumbled, and nearly fell to the ground. There was no more time for thought as they followed to the dungeons.  
  
Snape's store room was a lot like his bedroom as far as Harry could recall from his romp the previous school year when Zora had taken over his body for an hour. The small room was filled with thousands of ingredients and rare liquids held in tiny bottles. Bowls and jars lined the entire room. The group entered the small space with a little discomfort, especially since Draco needed to be lain down on the floor, leaving only standing room for the rest.  
  
"All right," Zora began, as she looked around the room, "Hermione and Ginny...I need you two to go and find me a certain book. It's black with a red spider printed on the cover. Go to the restricted section and it's the third row, fourth shelf, seventh book, got it? On your way, get me a bottle of Pepper Up potion....and a book on healing potions, Draco's wound opened again and so has Harry's."  
  
"Why not just heal them?" Hermione asked as she took her wand from her robes.  
  
"NO WANDS!" Zora burst out and reached for Hermione's wand. "Just...no wand magic. Just potions."  
  
Hermione gave her a curious look, but left the room with Ginny following on her heels. Zora quickly closed the door behind them. With the absence of the two girls, she now had room to kneel at Draco's side. She gently lifted his blood stained shirt and examined the wound. It was not a wide slash and only a thin stream of blood was escaping. However, she was fully aware of what lie under his skin and was convinced that if it weren't for his bloodline, he would be dead already.  
  
"Harry grab his arms, Ron his legs," Zora said as she began to undo Draco's belt.  
  
"Ah...I'm not an expert on these situations," Ron began, "but wouldn't you like to wait until after we're rescued to shag, or at least be alone?"  
  
"Just do as I say, Ron," Zora said as calmly as possible as she gently removed the strap of leather.  
  
Harry took Draco's hands and placed them above his head, holding them to the ground. Ron knelt next to Draco's feet and held them in place. Zora removed the dagger from the belt in her hands and placed it at her side. She folded the belt in half and placed it between Draco's lips, his teeth clenching it.  
  
"I'm going to make it as quick as possible," she said as she reached above her head and retrieved a metal bowl.  
  
"Just get it over with," Draco muttered as he clenched the belt between his teeth.  
  
Zora took the dagger from its holder and dragged the tip across the open wound and beyond, making the cut larger. Harry was dumbfounded as he watched.  
  
Zora turned her head from the oozing blood as it flowed from the widened wound. She felt her stomach turn violently. She always hated the sight of blood. She took in a deep breath and reminded herself that this was worse for him than it was for her...it would all be over soon. Well, this part at least. Once she was calm enough to continue she returned her eyes to Draco. His pale stomach was stained with the streams of blood running down his side. Before she had a chance to really accept what she has doing, she dove two fingers into Draco's wound.  
  
He growled in pain and moved violently against Harry and Ron. Zora was thankful he was weaker than normal or else there no way they would get through this. She didn't stop to think about what the warm squishy things she was feeling inside Draco were as she thought only of what she was looking for. She felt the warm solid object and wrapped her fingertips around it and drew it our as gently and quickly as possible. Once her fingers were out of Draco's body, blood flowed twice as much as before. Zora looked from the wound to her hand, which was now completely covered with deep red blood, and back to the oozing wound. The sight was too much. She let the object drop into the metal bowl with a sharp clang and she turned to the door. She threw it opened and made her way to the trash bucket filled in the corner of the room. She threw up what felt like everything she had eaten all summer.  
  
Harry was speechless and felt his stomach turn as he watched Zora work. As he listened to Zora vomiting just outside the small room, Harry forced himself to not become sick as well. Ron, whose face was tinted a horrible green, was obviously putting forth great effort to avoid losing it himself. Draco lie in the center of the room, his chest heaving and his eyes shut tight. He was still clenching his teeth on the belt, placed to keep him from grinding his teeth together as Zora removed whatever that thing was from his side.  
  
Harry stood, feeling the need to leave the room. He left the small room and held himself up by using on of the long tables for support. He wondered what normal teenagers his age were doing. Probably just getting home from hanging out with their friends. Crawling into bed no doubt and sleeping happily. He wished he could know what it was like not to worry day in and out about what was now becoming simply "his life". He saw Zora in the corner, next to the trash bin. She was curled in the fetal position on the floor, her face buried in her red stained hands.  
  
Sensing his duty as a friend, he sat next to her and placed his hand on her arm. She tensed under his touch but did not stir. She only removed her hands from her face and said, "I just...put my hand...inside of Draco," she said with distant disbelief as if she were just realizing it.  
  
"Why did you do that?" Harry asked.  
  
"The swords were tipped...sort of. A design of Salazar Slytherin himself. The ones you and Draco fought with were normal, but since he wanted to be sure one of us would die, he used those. The tips were made from poison...and they break off once it enters the body so the poison can't leave unless the tip is removed. I had to get it out of him or else no antidote would work, it'd just keep releasing in him."  
  
"Are you all right?" Harry asked after she was quiet for a while.  
  
"I'd be a lot better if none of this had happened," she said and returned her blood stained hands to her face. 


	12. Chapter 12

Sensing his duty as a friend, he sat next to her and placed his hand on her arm. She tensed under his touch but did not stir. She only removed her hands from her face and said, "I just...put my hand...inside of Draco," she said with distant disbelief as if she were just realizing it.  
  
"Why did you do that?" Harry asked.  
  
"The swords were tipped...sort of. A design of Salazar Slytherin himself. The ones you and Draco fought with were normal, but since he wanted to be sure one of us would die, he used those. The tips were made from poison...that break off once it enters the body so the poison can't leave unless the tip is removed. I had to get it out of him or else no antidote would work, it'd just keep releasing in him."  
  
"Are you all right?" Harry asked.  
  
"I'd be a lot better if none of this had happened," she said and returned her hands to her face.  
  
Harry wondered as he peered at her hands if she realized they were drenched in blood. He knew she hated the very sight of blood, no matter what type of blood it was. He lent forward and gently stroked Zora's long black hair, although part of him didn't think she even knew he was there with her.  
  
Zora and Harry remained in the potions classroom, away from the storeroom and Draco's spilling blood for as long as they could. Even when Hermione and Ginny returned, Zora almost refused to join everyone in the cramped space. She took in a deep breath and pressed her blood stained hands to the floor, lifting herself up and following everyone into the room.  
  
Ron had lifted Draco up to have him rest against the crowded shelves opposite the doorway. The blonde boy's face was hideously pale with his lose of blood. His eyes were heavy, as if he were fighting falling asleep. Zora walked over to him and gently shook his shoulder, as if waking him.  
  
"I'm up," he replied quietly, "I'm still here."  
  
"We...we err..." Zora heard in the distance, Hermione was trying to speak to her. She turned her head from Draco and listened, "we ah...found the books, and we got the Pepper Up potion, but why does he need it?" she asked as she motioned towards Draco.  
  
Zora walked the two short steps to Hermione's spot and took the bottle from her hands. "It's not for them," Zora said as she removed the cork of the bottle. She sniffed the elixir, enjoying the peppermint smell. "It's for me," she smiled.  
  
She took swallow, the liquid burning her insides all the way to her stomach.  
  
"When you don't have a cold or flu," she began to explain, "and you drink this stuff, it acts like alcohol. Why do you think so many are in the Infirmary during the winter, you didn't really think they were really sick, did you?"  
  
She took another mouthful, closing her eyes as the elixir began to take effect. She was more relaxed and calm than she had been seconds before. She wiped the burning liquid from her lips and took on a slight smirk. She pointed the bottle to each person in the room, "Anyone want some?"  
  
Ron took a step forward, but was given a deadly glare from Hermione at his side. He nervously laughed and took a step back against the shelves. Everyone else politely shook their heads and looked to the ground.  
  
"Oh sod it," Draco said weakly from the floor, "give it here."  
  
Zora eyed him a moment, deciding whether to give it to him or not.  
  
"A dieing man's last wish," he pleaded and reached out his arm.  
  
Zora handed the bottle down to Draco. He tipped it against his lips and took a long sip.  
  
"Shouldn't we be finding Dumbledore? Is he in the castle?" Hermione asked as she leaned against the shelves.  
  
"No!...Just stay in the room, no Dumbledore and no wands."  
  
"You lot don't know what you're missing," Draco smiled as he admired the bottle. "Plus...you may want some in a few minutes," he added before taking another swig from the bottle.  
  
"Even on your deathbed, you're still an asshole," Zora remarked as she roughly took the bottle from his hand.  
  
"Must be kicking in...you just admitted I'm dieing," he replied with a smile.  
  
"What are you talking about...why would we want some in a few minutes?" Hermione intervened with her uncontrollable need to know.  
  
Zora looked at her and looked as though she were going to speak but took another sip from the bottle.  
  
"Shall you tell them? Or should I?" Draco smiled, his eyes closing slightly from his weakness.  
  
"Shut up, Draco," she sneered at him as she wiped her lips.  
  
"Talking keeps me awake," Draco said with a small curl of his lip. "I'll just keep going, you can stop me when you want to tell the rest. How much do they know? Anything at all? Hmm...let's find out shall we? Shall we start with a Q&A?"  
  
"Don't!...don't...be a smart ass," Zora said, recovering herself.  
  
"Let's face it, darling, if you had been honest with them from the beginning...well, they wouldn't be speaking with you at all would they...much less be here?"  
  
Everyone was eyeing each other, all eyes eventually falling on Zora.  
  
"If you want to tell them...then tell them," Zora approved as she corked the bottle of Pepper Up potion.  
  
"Fine then," Draco smiled, "anything anyone's confused about...any questions?" he asked with a cock of his eyebrow, as if he were making fun of everyone for not knowing.  
  
"What's up with you and Zora?" Ron asked and Harry recalled his wild outburst when he was let out of his cell.  
  
"Easy," Draco smiled. "Zora's not the only one here spurned from old Voldie's plans. There were two created...a boy and girl. Draco and Zorina. Kinda has a ring to it. She and I were supposed to get married, but some people didn't like that idea," Draco went on a little drunkenly.  
  
"So...you're brother and sister?" Ron asked with confusion and a hint of disgust mixed in.  
  
"Hell no," Zora and Draco rang together.  
  
"They're connected mentally but have no physical relation," Harry replied from between Ron and Zora in the cramped space.  
  
Zora turned to him with wide eyes and Harry felt his cheeks turn a little red as he felt her eyes digging into the side of his face.  
  
"Very good, Scarhead," Draco went on. "Zora been confessing an awful lot to you? Or at least someone very close to her," he added with a knowing smile which sent a shiver down Harry's back as he recalled his meeting with Lara hours before. "More on that later, I'm sure. But does that answer your question? Destined to marry and bare children and all that...but someone grew a conscience in the orphanage, and those plans disappeared...for now at least. Anything else?"  
  
"Why?" Ginny squeaked quietly from the corner. Harry turned back and noticed she was practically hiding behind he and Ron. She stepped between their shoulders and asked again, "Why...I mean, I know Zora's his...daughter or whatever, but...why me? To lead Ron or Harry?"  
  
"Ah..." Draco smiled more happily than Harry was comfortable with.  
  
"Careful, Draco," Zora warned from his side.  
  
"You gave me permission...would you prefer to tell her?" Draco eyed her.  
  
Zora turned her eyes to Ginny. Her brown eyes were wide and confused and they were darting between Zora and Draco. Zora couldn't bear to tell her, it was bad enough being in the same room when she found out the truth.  
  
Zora looked at Draco and shook her head, her long black hair falling from the back of her head and fell into her eyes.  
  
"Well then, I'll continue. 'Why were you abducted?' I believe is your question? Well, it's not really that easy. This isn't the first time the Dark Lord has had some...connection with you is it? If I remember correctly from the rumors floating about the dungeons...it was your first year here?"  
  
Ginny turned her eyes to the ground and blushed a little, but she did not back up between Harry and Ron. She took in a deep breath and raised her eyes bravely to Draco, "Yeah...and what of it?"  
  
"You see...his intention was not originally to use you the way he did. Although as useful as you proved to be, I assure you, he didn't come up with it until later. No...he had realized by this time that both his creations were not in the school. He knew I was there certainly, but not the black haired vixen we all love so much. He was a bit...desperate. He could feel old scar head was near, but he was worried about half his line being absent. He needed the other half to get his lineage before scarhead fucked everything up for him...so he chose you to take her place."  
  
"Why her?" Ron sounded from just behind Ginny.  
  
"Why not?" Draco smiled. "She's female, completely innocent, wouldn't have known any better, and completely starved for attention. But of course as dear little red knows, she wasn't exactly...ready to fulfill his request. Sort of a late bloomer aren't you? Just last year, right? That's when the Lethifold came and-"  
  
"Enough of that," Zora stepped in.  
  
Ginny's face was now the same color as her hair. Her eyes darted over to Harry behind her and pressed through he and her brother to the door.  
  
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Draco warned, suddenly sounding quite sober and almost afraid, "not unless you want to be personally responsible for all of us being found out."  
  
"What are you talking about?" Ginny asked with a crack in her emotional voice as she stepped away from the door.  
  
"Ask Zora, she's the one who's responsible for that one," Draco sneered.  
  
"I didn't see you coming up with anything...it was the only way out," Zora replied.  
  
"Unimportant," Draco commented, with a weak wave of his hand. "You see," Draco went on as he directed his attention to Ginny, "it's a really funny story...you and old scar head there set off an alarm when you went through the portal."  
  
"What sort of alarm?" Harry asked.  
  
"A very loud one...the Death Eaters are looking for you right now."  
  
"Well, they won't find us here...will they?" Ginny asked Draco as she slid safely between Harry and Ron once more.  
  
Draco smiled at her and turned his eyes to Zora, who was being very quiet standing in her corner.  
  
"It's not the first place they'll look," Zora assured Ginny once she realized all eyes were on her once again.  
  
"But it certainly isn't the last," Draco finished for her.  
  
Zora shot Draco a deathly glare, she looked as though she were about to strangle him.  
  
"Where are they looking for us?" Harry asked as he took a step towards Zora.  
  
"Well..." Zora began, trying to find the best way to tell them, "Privet Drive...and...the...the ah...the Burrow."  
  
"The BURROW?" Ron asked as he took a dangerous step towards Zora.  
  
"Ron, RON," Harry intervened as he and Hermione eased Ron away from Zora as much as the tiny room would allow.  
  
"There are Death Eaters at my house...with my mother and father..." Ron trailed off as he glared at Zora.  
  
"They won't go inside," Zora assured him desperately. "They'll cast a spell to find you over the house, but they won't go inside. If they do they'll set off an alarm linked directly to Dumbledore. Aurors will be all over the place. They're not going to risk that until they know where we are for sure. They'll cast the spell and leave. Same thing for Privet Drive and Hogwarts too."  
  
"However," Draco went on with his nasty smile, "they'll actually find out we're in Hogwarts. Trust me...they won't be leaving."  
  
"If they know Aurors will show up when they enter Hogwarts, why would they even come after us?" Hermione asked.  
  
"The Aurors won't get here until almost an hour after they get here," Draco explained.  
  
"Hour at the latest...and you know that," Zora tried to correct him.  
  
Draco gave her a weak smirk and raised his index finger, spotted with his own blood, to his temple. "An hour," he repeated, "at least."  
  
"That's why we're in a room with no windows?" Hermione asked.  
  
"They'll know we're here...they won't know where. The castle is huge; it will take them forever to find us," Zora assured them.  
  
"Is that true?" Hermione asked, turning her eyes to Draco. "They say you dream...did you dream this?"  
  
"Well, to be honest, no. All of us never made it out of the castle. Because that's been tampered with," Draco said as he eyed Harry's shoulder to Ginny, "there's no telling how this will end...but chances are it will be catastrophic."  
  
"Such a drama queen," Zora said as she rolled her eyes.  
  
"Oh, yeah...I can see what they're talking about now. Definitely feel the love between you two," Ron said with a small smile.  
  
"Can it, Weasley," Draco sneered.  
  
"Enough chatter...unless there's anything else anyone wants to know I think we should start the brews," Zora said with finality.  
  
When no one appeared to object, Zora opened the black book to a predetermined page and handed it to Ginny.  
  
"Can you do this?" she asked as Ginny quietly took the book.  
  
Her cheeks were still a bit tainted with color and her voice squeaked a bit when she spoke, but she nodded her head and was looking to the shelves for the ingredients. Zora went to the other books Hermione had brought her. She could hear whispering from the other side of the small room, wondering if Ron truly thought no one else would hear him.  
  
"What was all that about Ginny? Late bloomer?" he asked in a hushed voice. Zora watched Ginny out of the corner of her eye and was pleased to see she hadn't turned or even acknowledged her brother's remark.  
  
"I'll...I'll tell you later," Hermione stammered out.  
  
"What do you suggest?" Zora interrupted their whisperings, "for the wounds...what potion is the best to close them?"  
  
"Ah...I think the simpler the better. We haven't much time, only a few hours, correct?" Hermione asked as she flipped through the book in her hands.  
  
Zora eyed Draco's smile cautiously and nodded. Hermione placed her book on the floor and took one of the books from Zora's hands and flipped to a potion and began gathering ingredients. Zora walked to Draco's side and sat where she thought she would be out of the way. Harry and Ron stood near the girls' sides, assisting.  
  
"Pathetic isn't it?" Draco muttered with his eyes half closed, seconds from drifting into sleep.  
  
"I don't think it's pathetic that they're trying to help you," Zora commented as she shook her head.  
  
"Not them...I mean me," Draco corrected. "All the strength in the world, all the intelligence and arrogance...where would it have gotten me tonight if it hadn't been for your friends? No one in Slytherin would have done this for me. They could have left me so many times....but they didn't."  
  
"Too bad it's your death that makes you see clearly," Zora slightly chuckled.  
  
"What's it like?" Draco asked with a hard swallow.  
  
"Dreaming..." Zora answered after a little thought, knowing exactly what he was asking. She went on as she remembered, ignoring the chills running down her back as she spoke, "you know it's not real, but it still feels it. There's this room, with a little girl sitting in the middle and she's playing with a toy. She looks up at you and tells you how peaceful it is on the other side...how great it is and all. She says no one cares where you've come from, that they already know you're gone and they don't want you back. And you believe her...there's no one there to tell you differently. So there's this door behind her and it opens. The light's blinding, but it's warm. It's only then that you realize how cold you are. The thing is...once you cross the threshold, that's it. That's when it all stops...everything. Then there's nothing...just...death," Zora added with a chill.  
  
"How long were you across?" Draco asked as his eyes began to close and he quickly opened them again.  
  
"A second, maybe two...it felt like forever," Zora recalled.  
  
"You do know what this means, right?" Draco asked in a low whisper. "Tonight...the battle and the escapes...the fact that all of us are here. We told too much, Zora...you know that right?"  
  
Zora turned to Draco. His eyes were locked closed. She placed her hand on his chest and felt the gentle rise and fall of his breathing. She smiled slightly and let out a sigh of relief. Of course he was tired...who wouldn't be?  
  
The tiny room became filled with the smells of the two potions. Unfortunately, the two smells did not mix nearly as pleasantly as anyone would have been comfortable with. Ginny held her nose as she began to stir her potion, Harry watching over her shoulder. The substance turned to the familiar turquoise color he recognized from taking care of Zora.  
  
Harry looked from the potion to Zora and Draco. He had been struggling to keep his eyes open for the past hour as the potions simmered and were stirred again. His eyes were closed, but he was certainly awake, making comments about the smells every few minutes. All had learned to ignore him by this point. And then came the silence. They had been locked in this room for what seemed like an eternity. The smells and the cramped space had gotten the better of their tempers and all had silently decided that it was best to keep quiet rather than taking their annoyances out on each other.  
  
"Shh!" Zora hissed from Draco's side, although Harry couldn't tell why she had shushed them...no one had spoken for the past thirty minutes at least.  
  
Harry concentrated and he heard it. Footsteps. Heavy and yielding from the potions classroom just outside the door.  
  
"It's them," she commented, "it's the Death Eaters." 


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen  
  
Harry looked from the bubbling potion in Ginny's cauldron and to Zora and Draco. He had been struggling to keep his eyes open for the past hour as the potions simmered and were stirred again. His eyes were closed, but he was certainly awake, making comments about the smells every few minutes. All had learned to ignore him by this point. And then came the silence. They had been locked in this room for what seemed like an eternity. The smells and the cramped space had gotten the better of their tempers and all had silently decided that it was best to keep quiet rather than taking their annoyances out on each other.  
  
"Shh!" Zora hissed from Draco's side, although Harry couldn't tell why she had shushed them...no one had spoken for the past thirty minutes at least.  
  
Harry concentrated and he heard it. Footsteps. Heavy and yielding from the potions classroom just outside the door.  
  
"It's them," she commented, "it's the Death Eaters."  
  
"One hour...until...the...Au...Aurors come," Draco breathed heavily, but somehow managed to smirk.  
  
"What are we going to do?" Ginny whispered to Harry.  
  
"Maybe if we're quiet we won't have to do anything," Ron whispered as he watched the handle on the door. "It's almost six now...maybe they've been here a while and the Aurors are close by?" he commented as he looked at Harry's watch still wrapped around his wrist.  
  
"Almost six?" Draco muttered from the floor.  
  
The footsteps eased closer and closer to the storage room door. Ron tugged at Ginny's arm and set her behind him and Harry next to Draco. Zora took the potions and pulled them to the back as well. She took a cup from the shelves and filled it with the healing potion. She tapped the cup at Harry's shoulder and placed it carefully in his hands. He took it without thought and drained it, the still hot liquid snaking down his throat. He felt its immediate affects, a slight burning in his arm and the soothing of several sore muscles he hadn't had time to acknowledge were sore.  
  
Harry gazed around the room; there were no weapons except Draco's blood stained dragon dagger lying at their feet. He took the dagger in his right hand and stepped towards the door. He chose to wait for the attacker to open the door first, so not to give away their secret spot in case the attacker had not known they were there.  
  
The minute dragged with tense anticipation. Harry simply stood with his forehead and back covered in sweat. He could hear the heavy breathing of fear all around him. He felt Hermione's hot and nervous breath so close to his back, with Ginny just beside her. He tried not to think of how many were waiting out there for him and how little he was armed. A small knife to protect six people seemed awfully unfair, it was barely enough to defend one.  
  
Harry saw that the knob of the door was turning slowly. He tightened his grip on the knife and raised it above his head, preparing to drive it at the attacker before he or she had a chance to take them over. He felt Hermione and Ron step back a step, giving him room. The door creaked open. Harry pushed it open more to give him the advantage and lunged at the attacker. A spell filled his ears and suddenly he was frozen in his tracks, his right hand above his head with the knife pointed at the attacker and his feet in mid step as he lunged.  
  
"I had a feeling you would see violence as necessary to defend yourself," a harsh and familiar voice echoed in his mind.  
  
"Severus!" rang from the back of the storage room.  
  
A flash of raven hair zoomed past Harry's body as Zora ran at lightening speed. She had her arms wrapped around Snape and his face appeared to be a combination of pain and glee.  
  
"Been looking for you lot all morning," Snape continued although he was still in a tight embrace with Zora. "I must say...not a bad choice for accommodations."  
  
Zora finally stepped back and let him take a breath.  
  
"How did you know we were here?" she asked.  
  
"Death Eaters came in through the Gryffindor Dormitories...and set off the alarm. Fortunately, they only had time to look in the common rooms and the Room of Requirement. They were just making their way to the Astronomy Towers and here when the Aurors got in," Snape explained as he watched Hermione and Ginny step out of the cramped space.  
  
"Draco? Did he...?" Snape asked as he turned to Zora.  
  
"He's in there...sleeping," she added quickly as he stepped inside.  
  
Moments later he emerged from the small room with Draco draped over his shoulder. He held out his wand to the dungeon door and said "Accio Stretcher". The stretched zoomed quickly through the dungeon to Snape's side, hovering waist high from the stone floor. He placed Draco's body upon it as gently as he could. Draco's face was completely white and his eyes were locked closed.  
  
"Reverse Incantium," Harry heard somewhere to his left, the spell had paralyzed his head so that he could not turn to see who was standing there.  
  
Harry fell to the floor with a loud thud, unprepared to continue his initial running. A moment later he heard a similar thud and saw Ron lying on the ground, wincing in pain from the sudden impact with the hard stone floor.  
  
"Ms. Granger, your notice of expulsion has been retracted, and may I say you preformed a fine job on the break of my seal," Dumbledore said with a kind twinkle in his eye as he nodded his head in Hermione's direction.  
  
Hermione smiled a little, but her face was completely pale, from exhaustion or left over fear Harry could not tell.  
  
"And it appears Harry has had a bit of a run in himself," Dumbledore said as he examined Harry's forearm. "Once we have settled you all in at St. Mungo's...I think we had better have a talk or two about tonight. Until then, I suggest you all keep quiet about it. The papers have a way of turning things around, but I assume you all know that from experience."  
  
"I suggest we get going, Hagrid's carriages are waiting for us," Snape commented as he began to walk out of the room, guiding Draco on the stretcher just in front of him.  
  
Zora followed him, with Ron, Hermione, and Ginny trailing slowly behind her.  
  
"Professor? Did you know tonight was going to happen?" Harry asked quietly once he saw Ginny's read hair disappear through the doorway.  
  
"I suggest you follow the others, Harry," Dumbledore replied with a smile, "we will talk once you're settled."  
  
Harry felt a twinge of anger towards the old headmaster for an instant before pure exhaustion finally took over. It had been an eventful night to say the least, he would have to wait for answers...but that no longer bothered him as much as it should have.  
  
He let out a sigh and caught up with Ron's flaming red hair a few hallways away.  
  
"C'mon Potter and Weasley, don't dawdle," Snape called once he noticed Harry had rejoined the group.  
  
"Why is it," Ron began from Harry's side, "that everyone gets 'Ms.' And 'Mr.' and first names and all...and we still get 'Potter and Weasley'?"  
  
"I don't know, maybe you should ask him later on," Harry replied with a smile.  
  
"By later on I hope I'm sleeping, do you know how hard it is to get a good night's sleep with this mess going on? First I had to worry about you and Hermione, now my sister..." Ron trailed on and on until they had reached the Great Hall. Their voices echoed in the emptiness. The Great Hall was filled with early sunlight but void of much else. There were no laughing students running around, no happy conversations; even the enchanted ceiling looked bleak and unappealing. They stepped outside into the warm comfortable sunshine, the "horseless" carriages waiting for them. Harry shuddered at the sight of those black creatures in front of the carriages. He wished he couldn't see them, but of course that was impossible. He had seen more than his fair share of death.  
  
"Potter," Snape was calling his attention, "go with Ms. Weasley in that carriage," he said as he pointed to the third carriage.  
  
Ron was climbing into the second one with Hermione and Zora while Snape occupied the first with Draco. Harry nodded his head and climbed into the third carriage.  
  
Her eyes were barely open as she rested her head on the back of the carriage. She yawned and rubbed one of her eyes. Once Harry was settled, Ginny's head was resting on Harry's shoulder, threatening to drift off into sleep.  
  
"I think Draco's a little more sick than Zora was letting on," Ginny whispered as the carriage began to move, the "invisible" creature pulling them with all his strength.  
  
"What makes you say that?" Harry asked as he closed his eyes and rested his heavy head against the back of the carriage and enjoying the gentle rocking motion.  
  
"I can see the thestrals," Ginny replied before closing her eyes.  
  
Harry looked at her red head. She wasn't joking; her gaze was fixed on the creature's mane as it walked in a gentle rhythm. Out of more instinct than decision, Harry placed his arm around Ginny's shoulder in an attempt to comfort her, noting the bare ice cold skin under his fingers. He wondered momentarily how long she had been this cold in that nightgown and not given a hint of complaint. She snuggled into his shoulder and looked up to his face. She raised a hand to his cheek and gently pulled his mouth to hers. The kiss was brief but momentous none the less. Harry felt his body warm for the first time all night. Ginny pulled herself from his lips and settled her head once again on his shoulder. He tightened his hold around her a bit as the carriage moved forward. They remained linked until the arrived at the hospital.  
  
Harry could barely remember much else of the day. They were brought to a closed section of the hospital where no other patients were kept. There were ten rooms in all, five on each side of the hall. Each one of them was given a room and had one of two Aurors on constant watch just outside their doors.  
  
After a few days of pure rest, Dumbledore finally entered Harry's room.  
  
"Good morning, Harry, feeling better?" Dumbledore asked as he dragged a chair quietly across the tiled floor.  
  
"Just fine, sir," Harry replied with a nod as he adjusted his glasses on his face.  
  
"I have a few questions, if you don't mind. I have spoken with Ms. Birk and Ms. Weasley, but I would like your tale as well, if you will?"  
  
"Of course, professor," Harry replied.  
  
"Tell me what happened...why were you in the castle?" Dumbledore asked.  
  
"It couldn't really be helped," Harry explained, "Draco came and told us...err, Ron and I that is, well he told us Zora and Ginny were gone and that we had to help him rescue them. He told Ron to go into this room with all of my potions and my cloak. After that I went into a room and...I blacked out, I guess someone hit me because when I woke up my head was sore. I...I had a dream though, about Zora's mum, Lara. It was so real..."  
  
"Tell me more about that dream, Harry," Dumbledore said curiously. "How did you know it was Lara?"  
  
"Well," Harry remembered, "she told me...and I saw her picture around school. She...she told me she was Zora's mother and asked about her."  
  
"Would you call it a dream...or do you think it was a vision?"  
  
"Well...I can't be sure really. I thought it was real while it was happening and all, but it's not really possible. Zora's mum's dead...she didn't look like a ghost. So it had to be a dream."  
  
"Harry, I'm going to ask you to do something for me...do not tell Ms. Birk you had that dream. She's quite emotional when it comes to her mother, and I fear she may get herself into a hint of trouble over it. Do you understand?"  
  
"What sort of trouble could she get herself into?"  
  
"Don't worry about that now, Harry? What happened after the dream exactly?"  
  
"Well, I woke up and these demons came and took me to the throne room. I had to fight Draco, Zora told me there was a deal made with these demons for descendant blood of a fatal wound. He needed one of us to get injured badly and the deal would be sealed or we'd all die...he, Zora, and I that is...and I think a few other Death Eaters, but I'm not sure about that. He cut my arm," Harry said as he looked at his forearm, the scar had already faded. "He said I wasn't honorable enough and had me taken away. Ron got me out of the room...and I went to get Zora and Ginny. I used a potion Ginny gave me last Christmas and..."  
  
"That's just fine Harry, I believe Zora has given me the rest. She and Draco had their own battle where she injured him, and so on and so forth and now we're all here," Dumbledore continued with a smile.  
  
"Professor?" Harry stepped in.  
  
"Yes?" Dumbledore smiled with a nod.  
  
"It's about Ginny...will he try to get to her again? I mean...kidnap her, or...anything else again?"  
  
"He's a stubborn man, he may...then again he can find other girls who are far more willing to participate than she, although the young Ms. Weasley has a bit of a benefit to him."  
  
"What's that?" Harry asked.  
  
Dumbledore smiled before continuing, "You will discover soon enough that the use of Ginny in such a way would be catastrophic to those he wishes to harm most."  
  
Harry could feel his cheeks were slightly red. Even the Dark Lord knew of his crush.  
  
"To be on the safer side...I think we can assume that Voldemort's involvement with you and MS. Weasley too is far from over," Dumbledore said as his eyes twinkled at Harry.  
  
Zora stepped into the hospital room. Severus sat at Draco's side in a chair. His head was tilted down as he read a book, his wand clasped in his right hand.  
  
"Boo!" she called into the silent room.  
  
Severus leapt from his chair and pointed the wand at her nose.  
  
"That's no way to greet your powerless godchild, such violence!" Zora smiled.  
  
Severus sighed and lowered his wand.  
  
"How's the hand?" he asked as he settled back in the chair.  
  
"Fine, I guess," Zora said as she eyed her knuckles.  
  
"Maybe you'll think before you go plowing it into marble walls next time?" Severus said as he placed his book on the night table next to Draco's bed.  
  
"Hopefully I won't have to see those walls again," she replied softly. "How is he?" she asked as she laid her eyes on Draco.  
  
"Better than yesterday...I think," Severus replied. "Good thing you gave him the potion, it saved his life."  
  
"Yeah...I know," Zora replied quietly. "I had to give it to Ginny it was so complicated."  
  
"Perhaps you should have paid more attention in my class...why do you think I gave you the bloody thing to study during lecture? Designed for you two specifically...that's how it was to work originally. Harry survives and wounds Draco with the poison tip, you administer the potion just before he crossed over completely...happy ending for all. Deals end and the prophecy continues."  
  
"I know...I dreamt it last night," Zora replied.  
  
"Retaining your dreams again?" Severus asked curiously.  
  
"It's been a week...the powers are coming back a little like everyone else's," Zora smiled.  
  
"Good to hear," Severus returned her happy smile, although once again it did not fit in with the rest of his demeanor. "Another week and he'll be up and you two can start preparing for school again."  
  
"I don't think a week will be enough," Zora smiled as her heart began to pound and she averted her eyes to the tiled floor of the small hospital room.  
  
"He was closer to the edge than we thought?" Severus asked as he looked at Draco's face.  
  
"No...no less than me," Zora replied slowly and carefully.  
  
"But you...you were..." Severus stammered. Zora slowly nodded her head and rose her eyes to meet Severus'.  
  
"I had to tell you," she replied with a nervous smile, "like you said, I was supposed to bring him back...I did."  
  
"He was never supposed to cross when you gave it to him! You knew the consequences with your own experience and still you gave it to him?" Severus asked, a hint of anger lingering deep in his voice.  
  
"I had to! He was lying there in my arms and he told me he was going to die and then he closed his eyes. I felt like I was going to die with him...I had to do something. I know what you meant when you said I'd understand one day. I had the power to bring him back...so I did. And I know he'll hate me when he wakes up, but maybe that's for the better."  
  
"It was six wasn't it?" Severus asked as he scratched his greasy hair.  
  
"Yeah, I think so," Zora replied.  
  
"Well, that explains a few things...why you three didn't die. If none of you crossed, you all would at six. He made a sacrifice...and oh boy he's going to be angry when he finds out he's still alive. You do know that when he wakes...he won't be the same? The spell will have broken and he truly will have hate for you, honest hate," Severus replied.  
  
"I know...can't wait," Zora chuckled slightly.  
  
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	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen  
  
"You do know that when he wakes...he won't be the same? The spell will have broken and he truly will have hate for you, honest hate," Severus replied.  
  
"I know...can't wait," Zora said with a slight chuckle.  
  
Zora couldn't stand the sight of Draco's weak body any longer. She turned and walked out of the room, the door closing loudly behind her. She looked up and down the nearly vacant hall set off just for the six of them. The only people she saw were the Aurors standing outside each person's private room, protecting those sleeping within.  
  
She began to walk quietly towards her room when the door across from hers opened and closed suddenly.  
  
"Hullo, Zorro," a cheerful voice called to her.  
  
"Hey, George," Zora replied with a small smile as she stepped away from her room and greeted George in the middle of the hall.  
  
George took a step forward and gave her a warm embrace as if they were meeting at the Burrow and not a closed hospital wing. Zora half expected him to be awkward or hesitant in some way, but then she reminded herself that George could never be awkward or hesitant.  
  
"Just come from Ron's room..." he said as he took a step back from her and indicated to the door behind him. "I'd stay clear of there, Hermione's with him now...they were arguing when I left...probably making up by now if you know what I mean?"  
  
"Thanks, George," Zora replied with a chuckle as she eyed the closed door.  
  
"Speaking of making up...hear from Fred yet?" George asked curiously.  
  
"No...he still hasn't visited or owled or...well, anything," Zora replied with a twinge in her heart.  
  
"Ron and Harry, they explained the whole Draco thing to me...although I still can't understand why you would ever prefer him to a good Weasley, spell or not," George smirked. "The thing is Fred was there too."  
  
Zora took in a deep breathe and folded her arms around her stomach as she listened to George continue.  
  
"He knows but...he's still angry. Maybe I can lock him in your room for a while and you can straighten him out for a bit?"  
  
"I think I'd rather him not be forced, but thanks for the thought anyway," Zora smiled.  
  
"My pleasure...oh! And don't visit Ginny either. I hear, Harry's in there with her," George smiled. "I think I'll go play big brother...give you the full update after I scare the pants off Harry...I sure hope they're still on."  
  
With that last thought, George grew a worried look over his eyes that Zora had never seen before and almost ran to Ginny's room, the last in the long hall. With a quiet smile, Zora thought it best to enter the safety of her room where she would be safe of all possible hexes.  
  
When she reached her door, she gave her Auror, a polite woman with long brown hair, a smile as she usual did when entering her room. Her Auror returned her smile and gave her a wink as Zora opened her door and went inside. There, sitting on her bed, was Fred.  
  
He jumped nervously from the bed as she entered and stood awkwardly before her. Zora immediately closed the heavy door and rushed to him. Once she reached him, she suddenly realized she didn't know what to do. She wanted the have him hold her and kiss her, but she remembered that he was still completely livid with her. She could see it in the red patches around his face, he was still angry.  
  
"I...I just want to know if it's true," Fred said after long and awkward moment of silence.  
  
"If what's true?" Zora asked as she awkwardly folded her arms over her hospital gown.  
  
"Did you really kiss him?" Fred asked with pain in his eyes.  
  
"Fred, I-," Zora began in an attempt to explain everything.  
  
"Did you kiss Draco or not?" Fred interrupted her, his anger rising in his voice. "That's all I want to know."  
  
"Yes," Zora replied quietly.  
  
"Why?" Fred continued his torture.  
  
"Because..." Zora began, trying to find a way to explain. "Draco and I are connected in a way I can't even begin to explain. He's part of who I am...of what I am. And that's something that's never going to change...something I can't change."  
  
"I don't think I understand...they tried to explain but...it just doesn't make any sense to me," Fred replied as he scratched at his red hair.  
  
"I'm not like other girls I guess is the best way to put it. Draco is my soul mate," Zora continued as she watched Fred's face sink, "and I will always have a connection with him. If I hadn't been taken away to the orphanage, Draco and I would be married right now...and I would be pregnant with our son as we speak."  
  
"Ok...maybe I don't want to hear this," Fred said quickly as he stepped away from Zora and to the center of the room.  
  
"I just don't want to lie anymore...if you can't deal with this then ...well, I guess you should go, I'll understand," Zora said although in her heart she didn't want him to go.  
  
When he just stood in the middle of the room, she realized that he was actually debating on whether or not to leave the room or not. His head was bent as if he was examining his shoes and his hands were shoved in the recesses of his pockets. If he did turn, if he did leave, she would not stop him. Instead she would cry her eyes out, collapse on her bed, and refuse to go on living.  
  
"I..." he began with a deep sigh as he scratched his red hair. "Damn it, Zora...he's Draco bloody Malfoy!" he burst out loud.  
  
"Fred, he's no different than me. Like I told you, we're the same. Do you despise me like you do the rest of them?"  
  
Fred only looked at her, his ears turning a shade of red as he stared at her.  
  
"Ok...sorry I asked that," she laughed nervously. "Fred you know me...I'm no different than I was before now...you just know a little more about me and where I come from."  
  
"No...the girl I knew wouldn't have lied to me...kept things from me...and she damn well would not have gone behind my back with Draco Malfoy!"  
  
"I never meant to hurt you," she replied, feeling suddenly weak and helpless as the reality of Fred's words sunk into her ears.  
  
"Well, you did," he replied as he began to back away, towards the door. "But that's who you are, right? And this is who I am...and I can't be with someone I can't trust."  
  
"Fred..." Zora said as she stepped towards him, tears blurring her vision.  
  
"Thanks for getting my brother and sister out of that castle, I appreciate it," Fred said as he placed his hand on the knob.  
  
"Fred...that can't be it," Zora said, not knowing what else to say.  
  
"I can't do anything else, Zee. I'm sorry. Maybe Weasleys and Malfoys just shouldn't mix," he said as the knob turned under his grasp.  
  
"Fred wait!" she said as she took a few steps towards him.  
  
He was already out of the door and had closed it behind him. Zora turned from the door and into the cold hospital room. She stood stunned for a few moments more before the tears really began to sting her eyes. They were falling down her cheeks and sobs were escaping her lips and filling the room with hundreds of tiny echoing whimpers. Who knew that you could actually feel the slow shattering of your heart?  
  
Once the six had all recovered as desired, everyone was sent home. Ron and Ginny were sent to the Burrow, Harry and Zora were sent to their rooms at Hogwarts, and Hermione returned home with her parents. Draco remained in the private room with an Auror and private nurse always at his side...still sleeping soundly.  
  
Harry walked through the quiet hallways as he ran his hand through his ruffled hair. He yawned as he came to the familiar painting in the middle of the hallway. Even through the hall was completely dark, the sunshine glowed from the paint and the trees blew in the invisible wind. Harry stretched his hand to the thick frame and lifted the painting from the wall and entered the concealed hole in the stone.  
  
"Zora?" he called into the vast room as he descended the staircase. "Are you awake?"  
  
"You kidding me?" she called back, her voice rising to the stairs. "Don't go to sleep till the sun's up at least, you know that."  
  
He walked methodically over to the couch placed at the center of the large room and slumped roughly next to Zora's feet. She smiled calmly at him as she looked up from her book as he yawned.  
  
"Can't sleep?" she smiled over the brim of her book.  
  
"Even when I want to," he replied as he yawned again. "Tomorrow's the start of term."  
  
"Is it already? Didn't feel like that long," Zora said as she closed her book and rested it in her lap.  
  
"Maybe it was all the mischief you've been getting yourself into," Harry commented as he closed his eyes.  
  
"Hey...I don't think I was the only one sliding down the stairs last night," Zora smiled as she eyed Harry.  
  
"Well, at the very least...it was your idea to use the Slytherin shields as sleds."  
  
"You found the Slip-n-Slide grease potion," Zora smiled.  
  
"Well...ok, so we've both gotten into a spot or two along the way," Harry admitted with a smile. "Feel like a kitchen raid?" he asked as he placed a hand over his stomach.  
  
"And I'm the bad influence?" Zora smiled as she set the book down on a small end table next to the couch.  
  
She went to the base of the staircase and pressed one of the stones with the palm of her hand. A few of the stones began to slide out from the stairs revealed a passageway. Weeks within the many halls of Hogwarts, with no constant adult supervision, had allowed Zora and Harry to uncover many secrets lurking within the walls of the large room Zora now called her own. The windows were enchanted, as the ceiling in the Great Hall, to show the view outdoors although no one could see the windows from outside the castle. There were passages to each of the four common rooms, one to the kitchen, three to random classrooms throughout the castle, and one leading underground and out of the castle near the Quidditch practice field.  
  
Zora walked into the passageway, Harry trailing at her feet as they walked through the twisting corridors and narrow passages that lead to the small wooden door covering an empty cupboard in the middle of the kitchen. Zora opened the door and stepped out. She immediatly went to the wooden cupboards lining the walls. She removed a plate and set it on one of the tables before she climbed on top of the table and spread her hands over the platter. She closed her eyes and concentrated. Several objects flew passed her head and around her arms and settled on the platter in front of her. She peeked open her eyes and smiled proudly at her handywork as the sandwhiches she conjured sat on the platter. She had finally begun to appreciate her powers and vowed to use them whenever possible before she lost them again.  
  
"So much for underage magic," Harry commented as he climbed onto the table.  
  
He took one of the sandwiches she had conjured and began to eat it greedily.  
  
"Not wand magic and not an official student anymore," Zora replied as she picked up one of the sandwiches. "You on the other hand, are screwed," she added with a smile.  
  
"Snape tell you who you're having classes with yet?"  
  
"Slytherins again," she sighed as she took another bite of her sandwich. "And I get real grades from day one," she added with a false enthusiasm. Real work was far from exciting for anyone.  
  
"But you're not a student," Harry commented. "Pansy's coming back, isn't she?"  
  
"Yeah, but rule number five hundred and forty something says dependants of staff members of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry who are not first admitted as one of the original ten accepted of their year have the opportunity to join in on lessons in exchange for a certified education, although forfeit all privileges of practicing students. No colors...no Quidditch...no common room...no Hogsmeade...no clubs...etcetera etcetera etcetera. But," Zora said as she began to smile, "there's also no points."  
  
"But detention," Harry reminded her.  
  
"Hmm...they'd have to catch me first," Zora replied as she raised her eyebrows.  
  
"Been hanging around Fre-," Harry began before he stopped himself. "I mean...err..."  
  
"It's ok, Harry," Zora assured him. "You can say 'Fred'... 'Fred Fred Fred Fred Fred!' I'm completely positively unquestionably over him."  
  
"Ah huh," Harry replied as he bit into another sandwich.  
  
"Ok...so I still think about every so often, it's nothing big...few more weeks and I'll be good as new," Zora replied, although she sounded closer to trying to convince herself than Harry. "He's right anyway...Weasleys and Malfoys shouldn't mix. At least one of us got a Weasley. How is Ginny?"  
  
"Fine I think," Harry shrugged his shoulders. "Haven't gotten an owl from her in a while...but Dumbledore said we shouldn't send too many, so I guess that's why."  
  
"Hear from anyone else?"  
  
"Hermione and Ron sent owls last week," Harry replied. "You?"  
  
"Snape sent one two days ago...said Draco's still asleep, but he stopped clawing himself finally so it shouldn't be too much longer. Hermione sent a potion she found in one of her books. George sent me a chocolate spider. They started making them in dark chocolate now, says your visit inspired him."  
  
"Wow, that seems so long ago, doesn't it?"  
  
"Our birthday party," Zora recalled. "More specifically known as the other night."  
  
"First night you died, second night Draco died...you're gonna start running out of people to bring back from the dead."  
  
"Considering I already died, I'd be more worried if I were you. You're next in line," Zora smiled.  
  
"Oh don't say that unless you've dreamt it and even in that case I don't think I want to know."  
  
"Remember that...only tell when I dream and even then don't. Any other contradictions on your brain you want to share?"  
  
"Not right now," Harry replied.  
  
"So...what'll it be? Swim in the Lake, more crashing down stairs, or racing through the Quidditch field?"  
  
"Scaring the Giant Squid, waking the ghosts, or running into trees you can't see in the dark."  
  
"Do ghosts sleep?" Zora asked curiously.  
  
"I have no idea," Harry replied with a deeper thought than usual.  
  
"C'mon! Let's go find out," Zora said as she hopped off of the table.  
  
They ran to the small cupboard they had entered through and raced through the winding passages. They entered Zora's room, the moonlight pouring through the large windows, casting shadows against the broad and smooth stone floor.  
  
They darted at the window farthest to the left. Zora knocked on the window pane three times and opened the golden latch. Instead of opening to the outside of the castle, the window revealed a dark passageway leading to the Slytherin common room. The two darted through the winding passage. This particular passage was longer than the others and much colder as it passed partially underground into the dungeons. Zora crept down on her knees until she was on the ground and pushed the loose stone out from the wall and entered the common room. The room was cold and echoed their steps as they ran to the wall and removed the usual shields from the walls. Zora took one simply green and silver while Harry took one with a large silver serpent on a green background. Both of the shields had the heavy remnants of the slippery potion still covering the colored sides as well as a number of silver streaks through the paint showing where the last batch of the potion had worn off.  
  
Harry ran back to the wall, shield held under his arm, and replaced the stone in the wall before they ran for the exit, laughing the whole way. It really was too bad their chaperoning Aurors had to sleep eight hours a day...it was in those eight hours that Harry and Zora got themselves into an unbelievable amount of trouble, never to be caught. Pity.  
  
They looked over the stairwell's edge as they held the green and silver shields in their hands.  
  
"It's amazing how much trouble you can find when you're bored enough," Zora smiled as she set the metal shield on the edge of the top stair.  
  
"Or sleep deprived enough," Harry commented as he set his shield down with a loud clang echoing through the empty halls.  
  
"It's not my fault we can't sleep. Ok...just remember to steer. You know what happened last night," Zora reminded him as she climbed onto the shield, it slipping momentarily under her before she gained control of it.  
  
"The scar's fading nicely," Harry said as he looked at his elbow before he sat next to her in the serpent shield.  
  
"Ready? One...two...three!"  
  
They pushed off of the stairs and slid down and down. The two had spent the better half of their time in the castle sliding down these stairs. They flew straight, leaned into the turns and curves, and managed to keep themselves sitting upright. Harry remembered their first trip down just as he and Zora leaned together into a sharp turn, narrowly missing each other. During their first slide, they didn't make it past the first turn. But now they were racing down the stone steps, the sounds of the clanging metal echoing through their ears.  
  
"Hey!" Zora called to Harry as they left a turn.  
  
Harry glanced over as she tried to tell him something. Just as he looked over, he saw that the staircase they were riding on changed and connected with a different hallway.  
  
The two almost immediately crashed into a wall and laid sprawled on the floor.  
  
"Ugh," Harry grumbled as he attempted to pick himself up from the floor.  
  
"Agreed," Zora said as she nursed her head. "Why would the stairs pick now to change? They didn't change one other time."  
  
"Where are we? We must be near the Gryffindor common room now," Harry said as he looked at the paintings around him.  
  
"My...God," Zora whispered at his side.  
  
He glanced over at her and saw that she was starring behind them, at the wall they had collided with. Harry looked up and saw it. The girl in the red velvet dress sitting in the green velvet chair and the saddest blue eyes he had ever seen starred back at them.  
  
"That's her, isn't it?" Zora asked as she stood. "That's...my mother."  
  
"Yeah, it is," Harry replied as he cupped his elbow.  
  
"She's...she's beautiful," Zora smiled as she wiped at her eyes. "But...it's not moving, why isn't it moving?"  
  
"It's getting late, Zee...we should start packing for tomorrow," Harry said as he tugged at her arm.  
  
"I want to stay here," she whispered, not taking her eyes from the painting above her head.  
  
Harry felt a bit awkward standing there with her. He slowly backed away and left her alone with her mother. He entered the common room and threw his body on the overstuffed couch in the center of the room and closed his eyes. He lay for an hour, maybe two, and sleep did not come. He grumbled as he picked himself up and went to his bed to lay for another hour and a half before his dreams finally took him over.  
  
Harry shoved a few more items into his trunk, trying to make it look more filled than it actually was. Most of his clothes remained hidden under his bed where his roommates were sure not to notice his belongings. His eyes burned from the bright sunlight and he yawned ferociously as he moved.  
  
"You're not really packing all of your things are you?" a musical voice called behind him.  
  
"Course not," he replied with a smile as he slammed the lid of his trunk closed, "is this show completely necessary?"  
  
"You know no one can know we've been here all summer. Everyone's worked really hard to keep it all secret," Zora replied as she sat on his bed.  
  
"Does it really have to be kept a secret?" Harry asked, "It would forge the war on right?"  
  
"Well, I for one don't want the whole world knowing and I'm sure a few others don't either," Zora replied.  
  
"Manage any sleep last night?" Harry asked in an attempt to change the subject.  
  
"Do I ever?" she replied.  
  
Despite her smile, Harry knew she hadn't been sleeping. She hadn't slept the night through since they arrived from the hospital. Harry could give her no lectures or advice on the sleep issue. He hadn't slept more than three hours a night either.  
  
"It's weird...I've had so many dreams about her, but I still didn't recognize her picture. Her hair was darker...her eyes too." Zora said suddenly. "She looked...so sad..."  
  
"I always thought that too," Harry said, not knowing what else to say.  
  
"I wish I could have known her...I wish there was something I could do..." Zora trailed off dreamily. "Oh, nevermind," she said with a smile although it was not cheerful, "let's go pretend to arrive at the station."  
  
They all filed into the small train compartment one by one and took their seats. For a while they only looked at each other, none knowing what to say. Dumbledore had instructed them to keep as little contact as possible to not set off too much attention.  
  
Zora took to starring outside the window and watched as the landscape changed with the speed of the train. The silence was getting eerily thick when a giggle erupted. Zora tore her gaze from the window and looked back into the compartment. Hermione of all people had her hand clasped over her mouth and she was desperately trying to not laugh.  
  
"What exactly is so funny?" Ron asked with a curious smile.  
  
"It's just so serious in here," Hermione smiled.  
  
At that, all five of them started laughing uncontrollably.  
  
"Well, I thought Potter's dorky glasses were amusing, but not that damned much," a familiar drawl sounded from the door.  
  
All laughing stopped. Zora looked and felt her mouth drop at the sight of the compartment door. There between Crabbe and Goyle was Draco. "You all look like a bunch of idiotic hyenas," he added with an evil smirk. His cronies laughed on cue and proceeded to the next compartment.  
  
"No comments?...Honestly it's like you lot saw a ghost or something," Draco said with a tone of disgust.  
  
Draco looked back in the hall and back to the compartment with a wide smile. He gave them a wink and a satisfied smirk before continuing to torture the next compartment.  
  
"Well...looks like he's feeling better," Ron broke the tense silence.  
  
Ginny was the first to begin laughing this time, the tension breaking yet again and a sense of happiness filing the small space again. Harry turned and looked outside the window after a while and saw the outline of the castle getting closer. Harry hoped the rest of the year would remain this way. Somewhere deep in the back of his mind...he knew it couldn't. Ginny leaned her head on his shoulder and slipped her hand into his. He smiled comfortably and leaned his head back as he looked out the window.   
  
"Has anyone seen Trevor?" a plump boy was calling through the halls as Harry smiled to himself, they year had officially begun. He wondered rather calmly to himself just when would everything go down hill. It wouldn't take long...  
  
Continuation to Come 


End file.
